SINGAPORE- The rand did slipped against the dollar in early Asian Trading on Tuesday reports the African National Congress (ANC) had decided to recall or remove President Jacob Zuma but is trading steadily this Tuesday morning.
At 0205 GMT, the rand traded at R11.95 per dollar, off highs of R11.9979 but weaker than Monday’s close of R11.8867.
The rand surrendered earlier gains made after reports surfaced that ANC had battled to removed Zuma and given him 48 hours to resign. A possible of a shutdown is on the cards, as allies of Ramaphosa demand Zuma to go and want him to take over.
Since the election of Ramaphosa as ANC president, there has been mounting pressure for Zuma to go.
For the rest of the trading session and in overnight trade in New York, the local rand traded in a narrow band before closing trade on R11. 94/$.
By 06:23, the unit was trading 0.08% firmer at R11.93, despite being weakened 0.3% to R11.97/$ earlier at 03:28. That was just shortly after news broke that Zuma was given an ultimatum to resign after yet again refusing a request to resign voluntarily.
Musa Makoni, a trader at Easy Equities, expected positive sentiment to drive the local unit to below R11.80, while Investec chief economist Annabel Bishop expected the currency to strengthen to R11.70/$ on Zuma’s ouster.
The rand has strengthen on the signs that Zuma could be axed before his second term ends in 2019.
Photo Credit- BusinessLIVE
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