South African Rand Plummets After Surprise Interest Rate Decision

The South African rand plummeted by up to 2.5% against the US dollar after the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) unexpectedly kept its benchmark interest rate steady.

This decision surprised most experts, who had predicted a 25-basis-point hike. The rand finished Thursday's trading session down 2.2% at 16.76 per dollar, making it the world's worst-performing major currency of the day.

The SARB Governor Lesetja Kganyago stated that the decision reflected the need to sustain an economy experiencing slow development while maintaining efforts to bring inflation closer to the bank's long-term 3% target.