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Reserve Bank governor Gill Marcus has nailed her colours firmly to the mast of non intervention in the currency market and refraining from support to keep the rand at a particular level .
WILL a weak currency improve SA's competitiveness and be positive for growth and job creation, or be just a short-term solution, outweighed by longer-term damage?
My slow paced stroll at the Gaborone bus rank, which is always a bustle, is greeted by a quick motion of the hands by one of the white-clad women as she rubs two fingers of her left hand together. A double take and she confirms my suspicions with a question of whether I need to change any foreign currency.
FIGURES for September manufacturing and mining production - up 2,6% and 1,8% - show we're emerging from the recession, but SA is taking a lot longer to do so than its trading partners in Asia and Europe.
THE strong rand was firmly in the sights of the African National Congress (ANC)-led tripartite alliance, party secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said yesterday.
ATTEMPTS to weaken the rand may backfire, given the clout of global markets and the potential cost to the economy, analysts say.
The government will seek out the views of organised business, companies and labour on the damaging effect of rand strength on the economy over the next two weeks in talks that could result in measures to weaken the currency.
Government would like to engage in an open debate with trade unions and private-sector economists on how to make the Rand more competitive, says Minister of Economic Development Ebrahim Patel.
SA's net gold and foreign exchange reserves jumped 2,3% to 38,8bn last month, more than expected, as gold prices and the value of the Reserve Bank's foreign currency holdings climbed.
