Interim Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Rapid Depreciation of the Exchange Rate of the Rand and Related Matters

All documents are in PDF Format

Contents

A. Introduction

B. The performance of the rand

• The history of the rand
• The rand in 2001
• The rand against the dollar compared to other currencies
• The rand against the Euro

C. The forex and rand markets, globally and locally

• Global Financial Markets
• The rand market
• South African Forex Market
• The environment in which the South African forex market operates
• The impact of globalisation and the liberalisation of exchange controls

D. Factors which might have contributed to the rapid depreciation of the rand in 2001

• Factors which in general affect an exchange rate
  • Exchange rates and inflation
  • Exchange rates and export prices
  • Exchange rates and interest rates
  • Exchange rates and portfolio shifts
  • Leads and lags
  • Exchange rates and contagion
• Exchange rate determinants
  • Long Term:
    • inflation differentials
  • Short to medium term:
    • Macro-economic factors
    • Perceptions
  • Short term
• The role of the South African Reserve Bank
  • Exchange rate management
  • The Reserve Bank
  • Reserve Bank Policies
  • Inflation targeting
  • NOFP
  • The meeting of 14 October 2001 and the circulars that followed
• Speculation
  • Introduction
  • Authorised dealers
  • Non-residents
  • Importers and Exporters/leads and lags

E. The experts' conclusions

• Gouws
• Stals
• Abedian
• Bruce-Brand
• The Governor
• Ramos