Ultimately, this means that the collective gains in prosperity which we as a nation have achieved are at risk of being eroded. Monetary policy Against this difficult economic backdrop, the Reserve Bank must continue to execute its mandate of protecting the value of the currency in the interest of balanced and sustainable economic growth.
Protecting the value of the currency means that we aim to maintain its purchasing power. The purchasing power of the rand is influenced by inflation. As inflation rises, one is able to purchase fewer goods for a given number of rands. Therefore, we aim to protect the purchasing power of the currency by attempting to keep inflation low.