Non-residents are no longer affected by the remaining exchange controls, and accept the credibility of the South African authorities in their determination gradually to remove the remaining controls. One major constraint, however, is provided by the volatility of exchange rates, even amongst the major currencies of the world.
It is not only the South African rand that showed great volatility over the past year, but also many other currencies. The exchange rate between the Deutsche Mark and the US dollar, for example, changed from $ at the beginning of January 1997, to $ today, i.e. a change of 16.2 per cent.