Sassa’s next baptism of fire happens today
THE SA Social Security Agency (Sassa) says: “We are working flat out in partnership with SA Post Office (Sapo), Telkom, the Reserve Bank, BankServ, Visa, the National Payments Association and others. This is a national project and we are united in our commitment to ensuring that social grants are available to every recipient everywhere, on time, every time. That requires Sapo to strengthen its own capacity as our grant payment partner, to achieve that. As a crucial starting point, a legal process is under way to have social grants classified as an Essential Service, to prevent strike action from interfering with payments.”
THE RAND raced to a seven-week high against the dollar yesterday bolstered by data showing a better than expected trade surplus in June, while stocks ended higher.
At 5pm, the rand bid at R13.0946 to the dollar, 4.99 cents stronger than at the same time on Monday, about 0.49 percent firmer than its close on Monday and its strongest level since June 11, according to Thomson Reuters data.
South Africa’s trade surplus widened more than expected to R12 billion in June as exports in precious, base metal and vehicle parts jumped, easing pressure on the economy.
Analysts said the large surplus was a sign the current account was narrowing, which would lessen the impact of any reversal of portfolio flows.
“Although economic growth has been sluggish with the unemployment rate rising to 27.2 percent, the rand showed its resilience as it continues its journey down to the 13.00 mark,” said Bianca Botes, a corporate treasury manager at Peregrine Treasury Solutions.
“As global trade tensions ease and investors once again seek yield in emerging markets, the rand is enjoying some respite for the time being.”
The rand has rallied in the past month to become one of the top performing emerging market currencies, due mainly to positive turn in sentiment, but remains at risk to offshore events, particularly the ongoing trade tiff between the US and China.
In fixed income, the yield for the benchmark paper due in 2026 was flat at 8.59 percent.
On the bourse, shares rose in line with European markets.
The blue chip JSE Top40 index closed up 0.17 percent at 51 315 points, while the broader all share index ended 0.21 percent higher to 57 432.46 points.
“Commodity shares led the upward momentum. There is stability in the markets,” said FFO Securities portfolio manager, Wilmar Buys.
Among the top gainers, Glencore gained 3.22 percent to R57.76, Anglo American Platinum advanced 3.05 percent to R404.50 and diversified miner Sibanye-Stillwater rose 1.65 percent to R8.
Losers included Naspers, down 2.2 percent to R3 242, Mediclinic, which dropped 2.1 percent to R88.50 and Richemont, which closed 1.01 percent weaker at R115.15.