currency info and facts

Euro Crisis

The euro crisis is really taking its toll on the already volatile South African Rand. It has been moving up and down. What do you think? Must the greeks leave the euro zone for the world economy to stabilise or do we all have to give a helping hand to let them survive.

Is helping the Greeks just postponing the final outcome ? Bankruptcy of Greece

Rand Volatility and Trading

The South African  Rand, is currently one of the most traded and volatile emerging market currencies. It  has traded in a range of R6.59/$ to R8.26/$ in 2011, its volatility increasing in the past two months due to global financial turmoil and the European crisis caused by poor performing countries in the euro-zone like Greece.

South Sudan New Country New Currency

South Sudan, officially known as The Republic of South Sudan, is a newly established country in East Africa. Its capital and largest city is Juba, located in the southern state of Central Equatoria. The landlocked country is bordered by Ethiopia to the east; Kenya to the southeast; Uganda to the south; the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the southwest; the Central African Republic to the west; and the Sudan to the north. South Sudan includes the vast swamp region of the Sudd formed by the White Nile, locally called the Bahr al Jabal.What is now South Sudan was part of the British and Egyptian condominium of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and became part of the Republic of the Sudan when independence was achieved in 1956. Following the First Sudanese Civil War, the Southern Sudan Autonomous Region was formed in 1972 and lasted until 1983. A second Sudanese civil war soon developed and ended with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005. Later that year, southern autonomy was restored when an Autonomous Government of Southern Sudan was formed. South Sudan became an independent state on 9 July 2011 at midnight (00:00) local time following a referendum held in January 2011 in which nearly 99% of voters opted for independence from the rest of Sudan. On 14 July 2011, South Sudan become a United Nations member state. South Sudan has also applied to join the Commonwealth of Nations, the East African Community, the International Monetary Fund,and the World Bank. The country was declared eligible to apply for membership in the Arab League as well.

With the creation of South Sudan a new currency will be used as well known as the South Sudanese Pound

Volatility of the Rand

The South African Rand (ZAR)has been very volatile over the past few months and certainly again over the past few days. What causes the volatility of the South African Rand ?

• Overseas Jitters and Happenings ?
• Uncertainty ?
• Speculation ?

Today the rand lost some ground again after it gained today. Reason was that a press conference to be held by Zuma & Gordhan. The currency markets didn’t know why so the rand lost ground. I guess todays drop could have been caused by uncertainty

See more in the article below

http://www.fin24.com/Markets/Currencies/Rand-rattled-by-Zuma-Gordhan-briefing-20110325

What is your opinion of the volatile South African Rand (ZAR) and what do you thinh causes it ?

Strong Rand ? Cheap Holiday ?

With the current Rand being strong against some of the major currencies like the US Dollar and the Euro. A lot of people including me would have saved a substantial amount of money while traveling overseas.  I think my trip came out about 15% cheaper then expected. I probably would have saved more if I didn’t book and pay for parts of my holiday all ready earlier in 2010. At that time we thought the Rand looked strong and i wanted to take advantage of  it. Would we have known we would have booked later. But anyways that said it works the other way as well. Weak Dollar/Euro?  Expensive Holiday  for Overseas visitors? I know of a few people who currently have postponed their holidays to South Africa as it would turn out to be more expensive for them as budgeted. Although even with the Strong South African Rand I think holidays in Beautiful  South Africa are still affordable for Overseas Visitors

Currency Nick Names

Currencies are sometimes known or refered  by nick names, here follow some of the most common nick names for currencies

US Dollar USD = Buck / Greenback
Euro EUR = Fiber
British Pound GBP = Cable / Sterling
Canadian Dollar CAD = Loonie
Swiss Franc CHF = Swissy
Japanese Yen JPY = Yen
Australian Dollar AUD = Aussie

Some info about the South African Rand (ZAR)

The South African Rand gets its name from the Witwatersrand, (White-waters-ridge) the ridge that Johannesburg is built on.

In some parts of South Africa money is referred to as “Tom.” This is a creation of Cockney rhyming slang, where the English word “jewelry” was rhymed with “tomfoolery,” and foolery was then chopped off.

South Africa is populated by many different ethnic groups with many different languages resulting in a wealth of slang terms. Coloureds may refer to money as “Kroon” which also means “virginity.” South African Indians call 100 Rands a “Clip,” and may refer to money as “Pano.”

You have heard of or know of others ?