Today, the South African rand reached the 12 per dollar level for the first time since May 2015. That happened thanks to the growing optimism about the future of the country’s economy as well as due to the general risk-positive market sentiment.
Investors and economists have started to look more favorably on South Africa after Cyril Ramaphosa won the election for the leadership of the ruling African National Congress in December, hoping that he will win presidency next and reinvigorate the struggling economy. That, coupled with the market sentiment that was favorable to emerging market assets, helped the rand to log gains. The South African currency was especially strong versus the dollar, which remained rather vulnerable.
USD/ZAR fell by 0.67% to 11.9516 as of 10:52 GMT today.
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