Swazi Observer

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LILANGENI FLIP-FLOPS AMID BREXIT DRAMA

By Hlengiwe Ndlovu | 2019-01-19

AS British Prime Minister Theresa May survived a vote of no confidence amid heightening Brexit pressures, which is the exit of Britain from the European, global markets reacted with uneasiness, thus resulting in several currencies, including the Lilangeni, which is pegged to the South African Rand on a one-on-one basis taking several knocks in the past days.

On Wednesday, South African publication Finance24 reported that the day ended at E13.70 for the Rand against the US Dollar.

A snap survey which was conducted by the Business Desk yesterday also showed a weakened exchange rate as at Swaziland Building Society for instance, those seeking to buy the US dollar against Lilangeni traded at13.44 while the SZL/U$D exchange rate for sellers stood at 14.02. At Standard Bank, the exchange rate was SZL/U$D 13.14 and at First National Bank the exchange rate was SZL/U$D12.9.

Report

The Central Bank of Eswatini’s Recent Economic Developments report shows that the Lilangeni exchange rate weakened in December against the US Dollar and the Euro while it strengthened against the Pound Sterling when compared to the previous month.

The marginal depreciation of the local currency against the US Dollar was attributed to a slight renewal of trade tensions between China and the United States of America which had negative repercussions for trade relations between South Africa and China.

Progress

In the meantime, in its recent report, the Central Bank noted that slow progress and the political uncertainty towards the exit of Britain from European Union continued to drag on the Pound Sterling performance against external currencies. States the report: “In the month under review, the Lilangeni traded at E17.99 to the Pound Sterling, a 1.2 per cent appreciation when compared to the previous month.

Weaker

At the end of the month, the local unit was weaker at E14.39 to the US Dollar, at E18.24 to the Pound Sterling and E16.44 to the Euro after closing the month of November 2018 at E13.66 to the US Dollar, at E17.47 to the Pound Sterling and E15.57 to the Euro.”

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