South African Reserve Bank

South African Reserve Bank
10 other official names
  • Suid-Afrikaanse Reserwebank (Afrikaans)
  • iBulungelo-mali eliKhulu leSewula Afrika (Southern Ndebele)
  • iBhanki enguVimba yoMzantsi Afrika (Xhosa)
  • iBhange-ngodla laseNingizimu Afrika (Zulu)
  • liBhangi lesiLulu leNingizimu Afrika (Swazi)
  • Panka ya Resefe ya Afrika Borwa (Northern Sotho)
  • Banka ya Sesiu ya Afrika Borwa (Sotho)
  • Banka-kgolo ya Aforika Borwa (Tswana)
  • Bangikulu ya Afrika-Dzonga (Tsonga)
  • Bannga ya Vhukati ya Afurika Tshipembe (Venda)
HeadquartersPretoria, Gauteng
Established30 June 1921; 103 years ago (1921-06-30)
OwnershipPrivately owned[1]
GovernorLesetja Kganyago
Central bank ofSouth Africa
CurrencyRand
ZAR (ISO 4217)
Reserves38 920 million USD[2]
Bank rate3.75%
Preceded byBank of England
Websiteresbank.co.za

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) 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 Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan and Bank of Java. The earliest suggestions for the establishment of the Central Bank in South Africa date back to 1879. A select committee, of ten members of Parliament, was established on 31 March 1920 to examine the benefits to the national interest of the establishing of the central bank.[3]

Following on the recommendations of the committee, the South African Reserve Bank opened for business on 30 June 1921, making it the oldest central bank in Africa. The first banknotes were issued to the public by the Bank on 19 April 1922. Set of ZAR notes 2012 to present R 104 000 000 000.00 and Set of ZAR notes 2018 to present 400 000 000 print.

Unlike the Bank of England, which provided the model for establishing the SARB, the SARB is privately owned.[1]

  1. ^ a b "'Havoc' for rand amid plans to nationalise Reserve Bank". Polity.org.za. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  2. ^ Weidner, Jan (2017). "The Organisation and Structure of Central Banks" (PDF). Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).