S.Africa: Rand plunges to new lows as sudden, unexpected shock recession sets in – Land reform?

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[I’m always delighted when rich whites lose money, especially if they’ve been betting on the blacks! These things will teach them lessons! More than 10 years ago, the Liberals were very pleased with Mbeki. Property was booming. I was in a bank, in the property section and loans to buy all property went through the roof for several years. Then in 2008 the electricity grid collapsed. I’ve never seen whites sell their houses so fast and run out of the country. It was worse than now! Since then, the whites, even those overseas have been more wary.

Eventually all these whites locally and overseas will learn to NEVER trust these black Africans. But first, let them lose lots more money and have more sleepless nights. That will teach them to listen to (((Liberal))) lies! Learn to value your quiet, solid, reliable common white man whom you have treated like dog shit, but who has quietly and stoically held things together while he has been in pain, you upperclass garbage.

Very likely, the real reason for this sudden, “unexpected” recession is that local and foreign whites are rather jittery and they are no longer as trusting as before. Good! Then they’re making progress!

I see that the Rand is now even lower than at the time this article was written! Jan]

The rand fell as much as 3% on Tuesday as the economy slipped into a technical recession in the second quarter and missed economists’ expectations.

At 1600 GMT, the rand traded 2.82% weaker at R15.30 versus the dollar.

The economy contracted by 0.7% in the second quarter, pushing the country into recession after a revised 2.6% contraction in the first quarter, data from Statistics South Africa showed.

“The economy remains lacklustre, partially driven by policy uncertainty. Investment in manufacturing and development has been hampered by uncertainty regarding the mining charter and land redistribution,” said Bianca Botes, an analyst at Peregrine Solutions.

The contraction was contrary to a Reuters poll of economists predicting a 0.6% expansion.

Bonds were also weaker, with the yield on the benchmark government debt due in 2026 up 20.5 basis points to 9.21%, its highest since June 20, while sovereign dollar bonds sold off across the curve.

On the bourse, the blue-chip Top 40 index fell 1.42% to 51 691 points while the All-Share index was down 1.4% to 57 892 points.

“[There is] a lot of pressure on banks and retailers, as expected with such a weak rand. The emerging market sell-off continuing and the dollar going on a bit of a rampage are also having an effect on our market,” said Vasili Girasis, market trader at BP Bernstein.

The biggest faller was telecommunications operator MTN, whose shares plunged 17.05% to close at R72 after it reported it had been slapped with a $2 billion tax bill by Nigerian authorities.

Further losses were seen in Aspen Pharmacare, Africa’s biggest drugmaker, which was down 7.49% to R270.86. It flagged lower revenue for the second half of its financial year, impacted by the stronger rand.

“They got hit by the currency, but going forward, it could be an opportunity to be buying now, with the rand weakening the way it has,” said Girasis.

Health and life insurance group Discovery and construction company Wilson Bayly Holmes (WBHO), which released their full year results, fell by 4.12% and 4.67% respectively.

Source: https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news-fast-news/rand-plunges-on-recession-shock/

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