As far as regional developments are concerned, South Africa welcomes the opportunity of participating more actively through the Southern African Development Community in the development of the financial sector of the African continent. There is a growing need for some closer contact between the various regional financial sector arrangements on the African continent.
The reduction in sovereign risk must ultimately come from sound government policy, as it cannot be obtained by simply shifting sovereign bonds from the balance sheet of one economic sector to that of another. This requires not only balanced and prudent fiscal policies but, most importantly, structural reforms aimed at regaining sustained GDP growth.