Fortunately, whilst growth in merchandise exports remain subdued, the value of imports has edged only slightly higher, with increases in the value of imported capital and intermediate goods largely offset by lower imports of consumer goods. As a result, the country’s trade deficit narrowed to R38 billion in the first quarter of 2016 from R41 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015.
Systemic risks, viewed from this perspective, were aptly defined by Governor George of the Bank of England, way back in 1998 4: “What we mean by “systemic risk” specifically is the danger that a failure of one financial business may infect other, otherwise healthy, businesses.