South African reforms could push rand higher, central bank chief says

South Africa’s rand has further room to strengthen if the government in Pretoria pushes ahead with reforms and prudent policies, the country’s central bank chief Lesetja Kganyago told Reuters.

The currency of Africa’s most industrialised nation has been a top emerging market performer, strengthening some 2.5% against the US dollar since the start of the year while most of the rand’s peers have suffered losses against the greenback.

“There should be positive momentum and that positive momentum is not going to be something just driven by the markets,” Kganyago, the governor of the South African Reserve Bank, said in an interview on Thursday on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in Washington.

“It’s going to be whether government continues to act with resolve and stays the path in terms of prudent policies and structural reforms going forward,” he said, adding that momentum for reforms would not just bolster