The response of the policy makers to the crisis has been multi-prong and multi-dimensional to ensure that a crisis on this scale may never happen again. The regulatory reforms undertaken under the aegis of G-20, Financial Stability Board and other international standard setting bodies focus on strengthening the micro-prudential and market-conduct regulations supplemented by effective macro-prudential frameworks.
Page - 2 - of 9  The net result of all of these recent global developments has been a generally deteriorating environment for emerging markets. During the second half of last year, the domestic economic outlook was overshadowed by heightened political uncertainty in the lead-up to the African National Congress (ANC) elective conference. Business and consumer confidence were at extremely low levels.