The total liquidity requirement at month-ends declined from R12.2 billion in June to R7.2 billion in September and R5.9 billion in October. A decline in long and short-term interest rates. The yield on long-term government bonds declined from 20.09 per cent on 28 August 1998 to below 16 per cent at this stage.
The rate on repurchase transactions from the Reserve Bank declined from 21.85 per cent on 13 October to 20.45 per cent today. Banking institutions reduced their prime overdraft and mortgage lending rates by 1 full percentage point during the past few weeks. An appreciation of the rand from the very low level reached in July.