However, from media reports, it would appear that Bloomberg’s calculations of write downs by and credit losses of banks related to the sub-prime crisis, at approximately $ billion, provide a plausible threshold. These estimates are reproduced in Table 2, below.
What is clear is that prolonged financial-market turmoil in the major industrialised economies of the world would impact adversely on economic and financial stability generally, making prospects for a resumption of robust and sustained economic growth in South Africa more uncertain.