Stable dollar, soaring rand.(Financial Forecast)

AGAINST THE GLOBAL currencies listed here the US dollar has been remarkably stable over the last month, one in which the new chairman of the rate-setting Federal Reserve has been settling in. All eyes are now on the new interest rates he is about to opt for--will the record-making run of increases seen last year, behind the dollar's recent strength, be continued? Without that the greenback is expected to fall.

However against the key basket of currencies used in Southern Africa the dollar has been exceptionally weak, bringing problems to any business involved in exporting outside the Euro area. This is especially important now that so much of the south's export …