The South African rand fell before the interest rate decision was announced.

As the South African Reserve Bank is about to announce its interest rate decision, the South African rand has fallen due to the impact of the conflict in the Middle East. Iran has publicly denied the US claims of constructive talks between the two sides, raising doubts about whether this war can be resolved in the short term. The conflict-induced rise in oil prices and fall in gold prices are unfavorable for South Africa's trade conditions. It is expected that the central bank will keep interest rates unchanged, but the market focus is on the outlook for future decisions. Volkmar Baur of Deutsche Bank said in a report, "The Iran conflict does provide sufficient reason to maintain caution today." The US dollar rose 0.5% to 17.0279 rand.