Rand Gains As Ramaphosa Says SARB Mandate Tweak "Not About To Happen"

The South African Rand has turned bid as comments from President Ramaphosa crossed the wires, with the leader admitting that SARB mandate change is being debated, but it is "not about to happen."

• South African assets took a hit last week as ANC officials suggested that the central bank's mandate should be expanded to "meet the needs of the economy." They toyed the idea as the ruling party wrapped up its national elective conference, which involved debates on key policy matters.
• The confirmation that no change to the SARB's mandate is imminent brings further reprieve to the Rand, on top of the realisation that in order to implement the necessary constitutional tweaks, the ANC would have to convince some opposition lawmakers to the idea.
• Spot USD/ZAR trades at ZAR17.0270, down ~800 pips on the session. Ramaphosa's comments generated some two-way price action, as the headline noting that the proposed mandate change is "not about to happen" countered the impact of the earlier mention of ongoing debate on the matter. The rate failed to challenge its intraday low of ZAR16.9798 on the eventual downtick.