Reading Time: 2 minutes

Rand Back at Jan 2020 Levels

At the beginning of 2020, the Rand was trading to the US Dollar at around +- R14.30 to a Dollar. Then things changed dramatically as “Junk” status kicked in and the national Lockdown due to Covid-19 hit. The Rand was hit hard taking a sudden plunge in value relative to the US Dollar.

Rand Plummets in Value

Around April 2020 the Rand was trading at over R19 to a Dollar. This was a massive spike that left importers gasping for air but left exporters with a grin on their faces.

‘the Rand was trading at over R19 to a Dollar’

The Slow Rally

Then as the year progressed the Rand continued to slowly make gains from the April peak.

‘things changed dramatically as “Junk” status kicked in and the national Lockdown due to Covid-19 hit’

Slowly but surely, as the USA and China went at each other, as President Trump got up to funny business, as the Russians misbehaved and as the ongoing oil price wars kept prices of Brent Crude suppressed the Rand began to edge back and recover much of its losses.

December 2020

Now, as the year comes to a close, and as US election clarity has been reached (mostly) and vaccines are beginning to roll out around the world, the Rand is trading around +-R14.50 to the Dollar. It looks like SA may start 2021 in a similar position relative to the US Dollar as it did in Jan 2020.