PRETORIA – The Zambian kwacha currency is now stronger than the South African rand, with figures showing one Zambian kwacha was worth R1.15 around 09:20 on Friday.
The kwacha went up 27% against the dollar this year following the election of Hakainde Hichilema the previous year.
Investors are strongly betting that the new government of the copper rich country will strike a bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Meanwhile, the rand was trading at 18.20 rand to the US dollar, having been beaten at the close of the day before on the appreciation of the greenback on an expected rate hike on still-high US inflation.
South Africa’s economy has taken one hit after another this year while still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is on an upward trajectory, raising interest rates to curb rising inflation throughout the year, with oil prices volatile for most of the year.
SARB has also had another headache to deal with, that is the energy crisis and blackouts imposed by the battered utility Eskom, to name but a few.
