South African rand drops as power cuts continue

period.

Furthermore, the NBS reported that the most notable import item in the period was Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, which gulped N1.67 trillion of Nigeria’s import bill.

The first quarter 2022, fuel import figure, according to the NBS, represented an increase of 15.97 per cent and 142.73 per cent when compared to N1.44 trillion and N687.74 billion spent on the import of the same commodity in the fourth quarter of 2021 and first quarter of 2021, respectively.

The NBS said: “The value of total imports in first quarter 2022 stood at N5.90 trillion, this decreased by 0.67 towards our target to become a netzero emissions energy business by 2050”.

BSouth Africa’s rand weakened again on Friday, as the dollar rose, boosted by the pessimism about the outlook for the global economy.

At 1532 GMT, the rand traded at 16.4150 against the dollar, 0.89% lower than its previous close. The rand touched 16.4700 on Thursday, its lowest since October 2020.

The dollar index , which measures the greenback against six counterparts, was up around 0.6%, as investors turned towards the safehaven currency amid economic uncertainty. read more

Investec analyst Annabel Bishop said in a research note that the rand will see further market weakness if power cuts persist in the second half of the year.

“South Africa sees economic growth at risk this year from the recent severe load shedding regime implemented at stage 6, even though it fluctuates to stage 4 intermittently,” Bishop said, adding that the outcome for 2022 GDP would depend on how long the country experiences severe outages.