First, it is evident that uncertainty is weighing heavily on external conditions. Overall, global prospects have weakened and in its October 2012 World Economic Outlook, the IMF lowered its forecasts for world economic growth to just over 3½ per cent in 2013 (from an earlier estimate of almost 4 per cent for 2013).
However, the higher growth in domestic production was achieved with only a moderate increase in total employment, while employment in the formal non-agricultural sectors continued to decline – an issue of extreme concern to all of us. The re-integration of the South African economy was accompanied by shifts in the economic structure of the country.