The South African Rand was unable to make sufficient gains against the Pound after South Africa’s largest electricity company warned that the country could face black outs which could damage production in the industrial and mining sectors.
Eskom warned its biggest customers yesterday that unless they scale back on the amount of energy they use then the country could see blackouts in the major cities. Emergency measures have been extended for a second day after Eskom said that energy supplies were tight.
“The power system is severely constrained today due to the loss of additional generating units from our power station fleet and the extensive use of emergency reserves,” the company said in a statement.
“This has necessitated the need for Eskom to declare an emergency in terms of the approved regulatory protocols,” it said, adding it had asked leading industrial customers to reduce consumption by at least 10 percent.
Energy demand has been a big problem for the South African economy in recent years. Blackouts damage production at mines and at factories which weigh heavily upon the Rand. Eskom is spending 500 billion Rand on improving and replacing equipment in order to avoid a repeat of the incident which saw mines halt production for five days in 2008. Energy supplies are expected to be restrained for as long as a fortnight.
Earlier in the session the Rand was close to pushing higher against the Pound and US Dollar following the comments made by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. The outgoing Fed governor’s speech hinted that the US Central Bank will refrain from tapering its monetary easing programme until next year, a stance that supports emerging and commodity based currencies like the Rand.
Current South African (ZAR) Exchange Rates
The US Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 10.1721
The Pound Sterling/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 16.4016
The Euro/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 13.7527
The Australian Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 9.5605
The New Zealand Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of 8.4784
The Canadian Dollar/South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently trading in the region of 9.7233
(Correct as of 12:00 pm GMT)
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