The South African Reserve Bank (Afrikaans: Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank) is the central bank of South Africa. It was established in 1921 after Parliament passed an act, the "Currency and Bank Act of 10 August 1920," as a direct result of the abnormal monetary and financial conditions which World War I had brought. The SARB was only the fourth central bank established outside the United Kingdom and Europe, the others being the USA, Japan and Java.
Unlike the Bank of England, which provided the model for establishing the SARB, it has always been privately owned.
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Functions of the South African Reserve Bank
The SARB controls credit and regulates the amount of money in circulation in the following ways:
- Increasing the discount rate in times of excessive spending;
- Lowering the discount rate in times of slack business and scarce money;
- Opening market transactions in times of excessive spending and rising prices;
- Opening market transactions in times of recession, when business is slack;
- Increasing cash reserves;
- Decreasing cash reserves;
- Disciplinary measures;
- Stabilising rates of exchange;
- Credit rationing;
- Bank of issue (The right to create money);
- Acting as the government's banker;
- Acting as a custodian of banks' cash reserves;
- Custodian of gold;
- Bank of rediscount; and
- Clearing bank.
List of Governors of the South African Reserve Bank.
- William Henry Clegg - December 1920 - December 1931
- Johannes Postmus - January 1932 - June 1945
- Michiel Hendrik de Kock - July 1945 - June 1962
- Gerhard Rissik - July 1962 - June 1967
- Theunis Willem de Jongh - July 1967 - December 1980
- Gerhardus Petrus Christiaan de Kock - January 1981 - August 1989
- Christian Lodewyk Stals - August 1989 - August 1999
- Tito Mboweni - August 1999 - present
- Gill Marcus - November 2009 - ?
See also
External links
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Coordinates: 25°44′43″S 28°11′46″E / 25.74528°S 28.19611°E
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