Rashad Cassim: Lessons from the crisis and the post-COVID-19 outlook for monetary policy

Keynote address by Mr Rashad Cassim, Deputy Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, at the 3rd Annual HSBC Africa Conference, 30 November 2020.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

1. Introduction

Good afternoon and thank you for inviting me to address you at your 3rd Annual HSBC Africa Conference on monetary policy as we, and the rest of the world, grapple with the devastating health and economic effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

I will start by briefly recapping how and why the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) responded at the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, and move on to discuss what challenges we may face in the next two years, or to stretch it a bit and say what a possible postCOVID world means for the SARB and monetary policy, in particular.

I use the word 'possible' because it may be ambitious or premature to talk about a post-COVID world at this stage, notwithstanding some encouraging recent successes in vaccine trials.