Growth in real gross domestic product slowed down already last year and was further restrained by the recent adverse developments in the financial markets. During this testing period, some structural weaknesses in the South African economy were once again exposed, but also some inherent strengths for which we should be grateful.
These include a sound and well-managed domestic banking sector and financial markets that provided the liquidity, the mechanisms and the resilience to adapt to the rapidly changing international environment. South Africa’s approach to this worldwide financial market problem is to remain part of the system and to lend our support for a global initiative to solve the problem.