It is human nature to be more tolerant of continuous rises in asset prices than of price declines. Perhaps we should be more careful in future: if growth rates and price increases are not justified by developments in the underlying activity in the real economy, asset bubbles develop, and the effects when such bubbles burst can be very serious.
The new system to be introduced by the Reserve Bank in March 1998 for an improved clearing and settlement system will provide a further step on the road of preparing for an effective integration of the South African financial system in the global economy.