Financial rand

The South African financial rand system was abolished with effect from March 13, 1995. The financial rand system was instituted on September 1, 1985 in an attempt to control the large outflows of capital from South Africa at that time. These outflows were largely the result of economic sanctions in response to Apartheid. The financial rand system provided for two exchange rates for the rand, one for current account transactions, and one for capital account transactions for non-residents. Investments made in South Africa by non-residents could only be sold for financial rand, and limitations were placed on the convertibility of financial rand into foreign currencies. Financial rand had the ISO 4217 currency code ZAL. The financial had a previous life, from January 1979 to February 1983. The 1985 crisis coincided with a default (then called a "standstill") on foreign debt by the Apartheid government.