JOHANNESBURG – The rand felt some depreciatory pressure during the early European session yesterday, but was able to recover some losses during the afternoon’s trading session according to NKC Research.
The local unit was little changed following last night’s "family meeting" in which President Cyril Ramaphosa said the country will remain on alert level 1 but announced dos and don’ts for the Easter holidays.
In his address, Ramaphosa announced a four-day ban on the off-site consumption of alcohol from Good Friday to Easter Monday.
“However, given the role of alcohol in fuelling reckless behaviour, we will put in place some restrictions over the Easter weekend. To this end, the sale of alcohol for off-site consumption will be prohibited this coming Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday,” said Ramaphosa.
Other measures such as the midnight curfew, maximum number of people at funerals and interprovincial travel would remain unchanged.
At the close of local trade, the rand quoted 0.27 percent weaker at R14.92/$, after trading in range of R14.87/$ - R15.00/$. The rand traded flat overnight. The expected range of the rand against the dollar today is R14.75/$ – R15.00/$.
BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE