South Africa: South African rand depreciates sharply in May

South Africa’s rand (ZAR) has lost ground against the U.S. dollar in recent weeks. On 19 May, the currency traded at 15.90 per USD. The figure was 11.32% weaker than on the same day in the previous month and 33.4% weaker on an annual basis.

The currency has been under escalating pressure amid a myriad of economic problems. The rand’s value plummeted against the greenback broadly due to the weak growth outlook and fears over a possible downgrade of the country’s credit rating. Moreover, the recent rumors of the arrest of the finance minister have negatively affected the currency.

FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists expect the rand to end 2016 at 16.45 ZAR per USD. In 2017, the panel sees the currency trading at 16.71 ZAR per USD.