Currently its main task, as defined in terms of the South African Reserve Bank Act and in the Constitution of the RSA, is to protect the value of the rand, i.e. to keep inflation as low as possible. This is very much in line with contemporary central banking practice worldwide. Since 1980 most central banks have chosen low inflation as the main or sole objective of their policy actions. The main function of the Reserve Bank is stated in its mission, namely to protect the value of the rand. This function concerns the regulation of overall monetary conditions in the economy through monetary policy operations.
Money serves the purpose of a means of payment.
It is a unit of account in terms of which the value of goods and services is measured. It also serves as a store of value for the savings of the community. These three functions of money make it essential that the value of money shall remain as stable as possible. No modern market economy can function well if its currency continuously loses value. Inflation is a continuous decline in the value of money.