SARB outreach programme

South African Reserve Bank chief economist, Dr Monde Mnyande, yesterday reiterated previous communication made by a number of SARB officials that it should not be expected to solve all of the economic problems of South Africa. Mnyande made reference to the SARB’s outreach programme launched in December last year which aims to provide stakeholders (labour, organized business, the top 20 JSE listed companies that report to non-resident investors, to name a few) with a better understanding of the Bank’s role and its mandate. He said that the outreach programme was a positive in the sense that “when things are communicated and the logic behind what the Bank does is explained and debated, the stakeholders become less antagonistic towards the Bank”.

According to Mnyande, these outreach programmes will continue to endeavour to contribute to the “national debate” in anticipation of “coherent and implementable economic policy strategies”.