##s or storage capacity will affect a broad set of prices in many countries. integration in global food markets impacts local food prices. common global factors, such as food and energy, also increasingly determine services prices. 15 as the dollar has strengthened, the inflationary impact of currency depreciation has resurfaced, a result of the reduced appetite for risk and the relative attractiveness of em assets. 16 using principal component analysis, economists at ubs research recently identified that the share of price variance across countries explained by a global factor was at its strongest since 2007, not just for core goods ( ex food and energy ) but also for services. see “ global inflation is turning in all major subsectors ”, global economic perspectives, ubs, 17 february 2023 ” dollar invoicing and the heterogeneity of exchange rate pass - through ”, emine boz, gita gopinath and mikkel plagborg - møller, american economic association, may 2019 as global price pressures rose, inflation expectations also increased, reflecting our local propensity to stagflation. however, not every em central bank faced the same price pressures, nor needed to respond in the same fashion. if we compare the response of monetary policy in south africa to that of its emerging market peers, we see that it falls “ somewhere in the middle ”. our repurchase ( repo ) rate currently stands at 7. 75 %, representing a cumulative increase of 425 basis points since we began raising rates in november 2021, compared to the policy easing of 300 basis points in 2020 in response to the pandemic. our inflation rate is 7. 0 % at present, or 5. 2 % when excluding food, petrol and energy. while both rates are still above the midpoint of our 3 – 6 % target range, headline inflation is off its highs of a few months ago and compares favourably to our emerging market peers. several factors probably explain why south africa did not experience the same acceleration in prices as many other countries. first, budgetary stimulus in 2020 was relatively guarded, and successive budgets have strived for a primary surplus. second, south africa ’ s inflation target credibility helped to dampen the initial waves of global inflation, keeping inflation expectations muted for some time. 17 third, the depth of our domestic capital markets has limited exposure to swings in hard currency interest rates, while south africa ’ s net international investment position has remained positive in rand terms

of these policy tools, the bank judged it appropriate to introduce them as temporary measures in response to various phenomena such as the spread of excessive anxiety among market participants and the rapid deterioration in market functioning in the corporate bond and cp markets – acute pain in the financial environment caused by the recent financial crisis. regarding the impact of these temporary measures, i believe that the outright purchases of cp and corporate bonds have proved effective to a certain degree in reducing excessive anxiety among market participants, and that special funds - supplying operations to facilitate corporate financing have supported the recovery in market functioning, which previously declined sharply. also, i believe that the expansion in the range of collateral that the bank accepts has boosted supply of credit by banks to firms. with regard to the policy measures taken in the recent financial crisis around the world, including those taken by the bank, the term " exit strategies " has been frequently mentioned, as global economic conditions have started to improve. exit strategies are variously defined but are often discussed at international conferences to indicate strategies to exit from expansionary monetary and fiscal policies as well as measures to stabilize financial systems. on this point, it was confirmed at the meeting of the group of twenty ( g - 20 ) finance ministers and central bank governors held last month that, although " the... timing and sequencing of actions will vary across countries and across the types of policy measures, " they " will continue to implement... necessary financial support measures and expansionary monetary and fiscal policies... until recovery is secured. " this view was shared again at the meeting of the group of seven ( g - 7 ) finance ministers and central bank governors held on october 3, 2009. in fact, it will take a long time for various adjustments to progress in the united states and europe, and during the adjustment process expansionary policies will continue to be required in order to underpin economic activity. the japanese economy has just started to pick up, and on the monetary policy front it is vital that the bank secure the accommodative financial environment for an extended period to facilitate the return of the economy to a sustainable growth path. as for the emergency measures that have been introduced in response to the acute pain triggered by the collapse of lehman brothers, and in particular to the spread of excessive anxiety among market participants and the rapid deterioration in market functioning, the review of these measures should be separated from exit strategies regarding the macroeconomic policies that i have just mentioned. it is considered appropriate that the emergency measures be reviewed in