I am a UK resident and recently I managed to unlock an account in South Africa with FNB that my family had set up for me. The account is worth R90k (~£5k). I have no intention of moving back to South Africa or spending the money there. I want to be able to use the money in the UK eventually.
Currently my FNB account is in a 12 month fixed deposit account that offer 7.60% nominal interest rate. My bank in the UK is HSBC and they offer a whopping 0.85% AER/Gross for a 12 month fixed deposit account.
Obviously FNB offer a better interest package but the issue is the South African Rand is an extremely weak currency compared to Pound Sterling. Every year the Rand is worth less and less.
So would it be better for me to keep the money in South Africa or would the interest gains be wiped out by the fact the Rand gets weaker by the year, and therefore would be better for me to transfer the money to the UK?