The decline in imported inflation over this period was primarily due to lower international oil prices and the increase in the value of the rand in May and June 2001. Coupled with declining inflation in trading-partner countries, this contributed meaningfully to the slowdown in imported inflation. 4. Exchange rate developments  The performance of the rand/dollar exchange rate has been disappointing in recent times.
It has traded between R8.01 on 4 July 2001 and R8.45 on 22 August.