The currency then stabilised in early 2002 and strengthened slowly but consistently until the end of May. Since the beginning of June the exchange rate of the rand has fluctuated widely around its newly established levels.
The rand has continued to be negatively affected by developments in emerging markets, and events in 2002 in Argentina and Brazil, for example, could hamper the short-term outlook for the rand. For this reason the Reserve Bank strongly supports the government’s policy that the remaining exchange control regulations should be very gradually relaxed.