However, we increasingly signaled our concerns in the monetary policy statements, first by indicating explicitly that there was no room for further monetary accommodation; and then, in November, by stating that, should there be further significant deterioration in the inflation outlook, we would have to take appropriate action.
At that stage, given the turbulence in global financial markets, we were uncertain about what the actual outcomes would be. But the rand depreciated from around R10 against the US dollar in November, to over R11 against the US dollar by the January meeting, in response to Fed tapering which adversely affected capital flows to emerging markets.