ZAR holds firm against USD as GDP figures show South Africa's economy rally

The statistics department of South Africa announced the country’s GDP figures for Q4 of 2023 this morning.

They revealed that South Africa’s economy grew by a marginal 0,1% in October to December, taking the annual growth rate for 2023 to 0,6%.

A narrow miss

The figures had been anticipated to confirm whether or not the beleaguered African economy had sunk into a technical recession, after a 0.2% contraction in Q3.

This means that South Africa has narrowly avoided a recession – for now.

A short moment of victory

The ZAR rallied in kind, firming against the dollar and multiple other currencies prior to and just after the GDP figure announcements.

South Africa's ZAR was at 19.02 against the U.S. dollar towards markets closing on March 4^th, and built directly on that momentum by opening at 19.05 to the dollar on Tuesday 5^th.

Upon release of the GDP figures this morning, the USD/ZAR dropped from 19.09 to 19.04, before correcting back upward to 19.08 a mere 20 minutes later.

However, the dollar has not managed to break again through the resistance to trade at 19.20 to the ZAR, as it did on February 29^th.

The GBP/ZAR has continued to trend downward as well, trading at 24.14 to the ZAR upon release of the GDP figures, down from 24.19 previously.