President Cyril Ramaphosa has commended the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) for its quick, bold, extraordinary and unprecedented response to the COVID-19 pandemic over the past year.
Over the past year, the SARB slashed the repo rate by over 200 basis points in an attempt to soften the blow on consumers affected by the effects of the pandemic.
President Ramaphosa applauded the central bank’s response to the virus in a tribute as the institution on Wednesday celebrated a century of its existence.
In a statement, the Presidency said countries stand or fall on the quality of their institutions.
South Africans, said the President, could be proud of its central bank as “an institution that has been unwavering in meeting its Constitutional mandate”.
“On behalf of the people of South Africa, I extend warm greetings and best wishes to the South African Reserve Bank on the occasion of its 100th birthday.
“The SARB has stood witness to some of the most dramatic events in our country from the Great Depression to World War II, from the election of the Nationalist Party government in 1948 to the declaration of the republic, from the Sharpeville massacre to the release of Nelson Mandela from prison and to the historic 1994 elections.”
He said while the SARB’s existence and work predate the dawn of democracy in 1994, the manner in which it has carried out its democratic constitutional mandate, an obligation to the South African people’s desire for liberty and prosperity, “has been exemplary”.
“It has not only applied monetary policy instruments with diligence and care in times of global and regional crises, it has also provided sound and valuable advice to government,” he said.
Source: South African Government News Agency