South African rand to weaken on doubts over Ramaphosa reforms

South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa greets security personnel at the World Economic Forum on Africa 2017 meeting in Durban, South Africa, May 5, 2017. [Reuters]

The rand is likely to weaken over 12 per cent this year, hit by doubts about how much the new leader of the ruling African National Congress, Cyril Ramaphosa, a promised reformer, can do for South Africa’s ailing economy.

The rand is expected to weaken to 13.85 against the dollar by the end of the year, according to a Reuters poll of strategists published yesterday. That is a smaller decline than the 14.30 predicted during 2018 in the previous poll.