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Foreign currency: now business risk number one!
Farmer's Weekly
|June 30, 2023
The challenges associated with foreign currency transactions have escalated sharply and become arguably the greatest risk for farmers. Get expert advice and take action to limit your exposure, advises Peter Hughes.
If the recent plunge in the value of the rand has not had you worried, -you've got your priorities wrong, and you're neglecting a serious business risk.
The value of the rand has collapsed and is continuing to do so faster than the currencies of most other developing countries. But that's not all; the rand is also one of the most volatile currencies in the world. The graphs below show the seriousness of the problem.
Graph 1 compares the rand value to the US dollar from 1975 to 1997 and from 2001 to 2023. Note not only the steepening trend of declining value from 2010 onwards, but also the increase in volatility compared with the previous 1975-97 period.
This story is from the June 30, 2023 edition of Farmer's Weekly.
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