The South African (SA) Rand held its ground in early trading on Monday, shrugging off Standard and Poor’s Global first credit upgrade of the country since 2005, a move to BB from BB- with a positive outlook, as investors shifted focus to this week’s looming interest rate decision.
The Rand traded at 17.07 against the United States Dollar, little changed from its Friday close.
“The muted reaction reflects that the move was largely priced in, though the upgrade, combined with Treasury’s backing of a 3% inflation target, supports SA’s longer term risk profile,” said Wichard Cilliers, Head of Market Risk at TreasuryONE, in a note.
Last week, the Rand briefly broke below a key 17 per Dollar level for the first time since February 2023 to touch 16.955 after the government’s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement showed signs of fiscal discipline.
–Reuters–
