Transaction costs in foreign exchange markets as an impediment to intra-SADC trading
Date
2011-11-10
Authors
Manyadu, Sithembele
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Abstract
The main goal of this research is to investigate whether foreign exchange transacting costs are an impediment to intra-regional trading within the Southern African Development Community SADC region. The research question posed has been whether foreign exchange trading costs affect the amount of intra-regional trading within the SADC region. Once the impediments relating to regional trading have been broken down and the cost effect on Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises SMMEs is established, then possible solutions are proposed.
The research discovers that the cost of foreign exchange has an impact on intra-regional trading, but it is not the main hindrance to intra-regional trading in the SADC. It also discovers that the settlement risk of a foreign exchange transaction in the region has not yet been addressed to the same or similar extent as in the developed world.
The extent of trading partners’ currency volatility is a function of the amount of trade between those trading partners. The SADC countries’ currency pairs volatility can be reduced by increased trade. Having said that, businesses need to plan and high levels of volatility tend to be disruptive.
This is now the area where it is suggested that central banks within the region should actively participate in foreign exchange markets. Central banks should be the facilitator or price-maker of last resort in cases of lack of liquidity of local or foreign currencies. The research suggests that they should play a role in ensuring or reducing the amount of rapid currency spikes that lead to disorderly markets.
The research also discovers that SMMEs are a core part of the economies of developing countries, and therefore a serious look at this sector of the economy is suggested.
Mobile communication networks, like cell phones, are the current accessible and preferred communications tool among the geographical regions and areas that are hard to reach. Cell phones have also doubled as a form of payment among rural, African countries. The research suggests leeching on the current cell phone
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banking platforms to enable better foreign exchange reach to SMMEs and the general public. It suggests interlinking relationships between banks and cell phone networks, where the cell phone companies facilitate the accessibility and the banks’ liquidity. The report takes cognisance of the fact that, inasmuch as the countries in SADC are geographically close to each other, their political, economic and social dynamics can be wildly different. This would therefore mean that the proposed solutions are not necessarily a one-size-fits-all, but could be adjusted and tweaked to suit individual country dynamics.
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Keywords
Foreign exchange rates, Intra-regional trading, SADC, Southern African Development Community