GBP/ZAR - Rate Guide

British Pound Sterling (GBP)

Pound valuations will continue to fluctuate based on Brexit No-deal, Deal and Remain probabilities. No-deal prospects may increase if, as is widely expected, ardent Brexiteer Boris Johnson becomes the UK’s next prime minister. However, some banks argue that Johnson’s appointment would make little difference to no-deal or remain probabilities.

The pound is unlikely to receive much in the way of meaningful respite until November, analysts say, when hopefully the UK-EU Brexit arrangement, or lack thereof, is known (Boris Johnson insists that the UK will not seek any further Article 50 extensions beyond the October-31 deadline).

The pound would be doing far worse if it weren't receiving some support from the Bank of England which, surprisingly, is the only major central bank still considering higher interest rates in 2019.

By some margin, the pound was the worst-performing major currency in the second quarter. It slipped in late June to multi-month lows against a number of important currencies, including the Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar, euro, Canadian dollar and Swiss franc.

Read more in the article GBP Forecasts.

South African Rand (ZAR)

2018 was a grim year for the rand: it lost 14 percent of its value against the US dollar and lost 10 percent against the euro.

Stability returned in the first 5 months of 2019, with no change against the dollar and a 2 percent gain versus the euro.

Talk in May was all about the election, which was again won by the ANC party, led by Cyril Ramaphosa. This spurred a relief rally in the rand, but a serious fall in support for the ANC since 2014 suggests Ramaphosa will struggle implementing much-needed economic reforms.

With the election out of the way, analysts at Deutsche Bank are expecting the rand to weaken throughout the rest of the year.

"We think [rand] optimism will prove short-lived as the market quickly refocuses on deteriorating fundamentals," Deutsche said.

The mid-rate is the rate you will see quoted online or the news. It is actually just the half-way point (hence mid-rate) between the last rate at which the GBP / ZAR was traded (bought or sold) in the international markets.

All foreign exchange providers charge a fee for providing their service and this fee is usually contained within the exchange rate margin (or difference to the mid-rate). Some providers such as Transferwise will quote you the mid-rate (or close to) and charge a separate percentage fee.