In his state of the nation address earlier this month, President Thabo Mbeki indicated that the government was set to embark on a programme of action, starting with the economy. The President noted the general consensus that we have established the necessary level of macroeconomic balance and stability, and have turned away from the precarious position we found ourselves in during 1994.
However, a self-sustaining recovery in domestic demand is unlikely to gain momentum for some time, since production is expected to be virtually unchanged for the time being while downward pressures such as excessive labor input and debt persist.