1960s, amid the introduction of a new currency, also saw signs of inflation, resulting in anti - inflationary measures that, by 1967, slowed the rate of price increases. these troubles ushered in a period of economic policy reform that eventually led us to the modern approaches to monetary and fiscal policy that we see today. leading up to the 1980s, south africa was in deep political and economic turmoil. at the height of the anti - apartheid struggle, inflation hit a high of 18. 4 % in 1986, and annual growth slowed to 1. 6 % for the decade. significant capital outflows resulting from the debt default and economic sanctions saw another policy reform : exchange controls. the sarb adopted a broadly defined money supply ( m3 ) growth target framework. inflation gradually slowed towards the end of the decade, averaging 12. 9 % in 1989. the sarb act of 1944 was replaced by the south african reserve bank act 90 of 1989, which contained the revised primary objective wording of “ monetary stability and balanced growth ”. the 90s ushered in a renewed spirit among south africans with the advent of democracy. continuity amidst the change was crucial for the smooth transition to democracy and gaining international investor confidence. this led to president mandela asking dr chris stals to continue serving as governor. a critical pillar to this was ensuring that the sarb as an institution was stable, by retaining institutional memory and the requisite skills, while at the same time preparing 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches to transform the organisation. the sarb debuted its ‘ big five ’ banknote series, and introduced a r5 coin, commemorating the inauguration of our first democratically elected president, nelson mandela. we have continued the tradition of reflecting on our history and today we are releasing a newly designed r5 coin commemorating our centenary. the adoption of our constitution in 1996 saw the sarb bestowed greater responsibility in the rebuilding of our economy. the sarb ’ s primary objective reads, “ to protect the value of the currency in the interest of balanced and sustainable economic growth in the republic ”. moreover, “ in pursuit of its primary object, [ the sarb ] must perform its functions independently and without fear, favour or prejudice, but there must be regular consultation between the bank and the cabinet member responsible for national financial matters ”. central bank independence emerged as an effective way of ensuring that monetary policy focused on the key objective of keeping prices stable. to ensure that the sarb could pursue that objective independently and effectively, the late 1990s

lesetja kganyago : address at anniversary celebration of south african reserve bank address by mr lesetja kganyago, governor of the south african reserve bank, at the virtual 100th anniversary celebration of the south african reserve bank, 30 june 2021. * * * good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen on this day, 100 years ago, at church street east, the first governor of the south african reserve bank ( sarb ), mr william henry clegg, and 14 other men opened the doors of the sarb to the public. the world had just emerged from world war i, leading to unusual financial and monetary conditions. in establishing the sarb, the primary objective was simple : to restore and maintain order in the issue and circulation of domestic currency, and restore the gold standard to the pre - world war i rate of exchange. from the archives, the first board meeting minutes, dated 29 july 1921 at 10 : 00, disclose that the first order of business entailed “ the purchase of property in pretoria for £7 000 and the first orders of banknotes ”. the former was finalised in the late 1920s, while the first batch of banknotes ordered from england was issued to the public on 19 april 1922. the monetary policy framework adopted at the sarb ’ s founding was the gold standard, linking banknotes to gold. however, the great depression and its link to weaknesses in the gold standard ushered in a period of monetary policy reform. a new policy direction linked the value of the south african pound to the british pound sterling, and the further decision to join the bretton woods agreement in 1946 as a leading member of the international monetary system. other currency reforms were initiated in subsequent years. in the 1950s, the decimal coinage commission recommended that south africa formally introduce a decimal system, which eventually led to the introduction of the rand in 1961. this occurred at the same time that south africa became a republic. despite the introduction of the rand, the 1960s was a period of rising inflation at home and globally. in 1967, anti - inflationary measures were introduced to slow the rise in the price level. these gains proved short - lived, however, as inflation again picked up in the 1970s on the back of us dollar depreciation ( as the us removed parity to gold ), major fiscal expansions, and the first oil price crisis. by the end of the decade, oil prices had tripled and inflation reached post - war highs around the world. the early