The large capital inflows over the past few years have enabled the Reserve Bank to increase the country’s official foreign reserves from the equivalent of 6½ weeks’ worth of imports of goods and services at the end of 1994 to 14½ weeks’ worth at the end of June 2000.
The increase in the country’s official foreign reserves in recent years also made it possible to substantially relax exchange controls over the period. Government took the lead in reintroducing South Africa gradually to the global markets for public loan issues. A number of issues were made in the global and Yankee US dollar markets, in Sterling, Deutsche Mark and in the Samurai Yen market.