Even before the pandemic, and in the context of the post-financial crisis expansion of central bank balance sheets, Rogoff (2019) warned about the threats to central bank independence18. Once politicised, he noted, it becomes very difficult for monetary policy to bring high inflation under control and to protect it from further political interference. Trust and credibility, painstakingly built over time, can be destroyed quickly.
However, the greater proportion of these sales were financed in the market for repurchase transactions, indicating that they do not only reflect disinvestment by non-residents. The change in investor sentiment was echoed in the eurorand market where the net proceeds of rand-denominated bonds issued by non-resident entities also reverted to net redemptions of R0.5 billion in the first quarter of 2000.