The African continent, however, continues to offer attractive opportunities for growth and development, provided appropriate policies are pursued to address these challenges. South Africa is no exception. This morning, I shall examine the current economic conjuncture in South Africa and highlight those developments which make us hopeful that improvement lies ahead.
I will also consider how this may affect the outlook for monetary policy, before concluding with some remarks on our country’s sovereign rating outlook. 2.  International and local challenges to the South African economy  The African continent in general, and South Africa in particular, have not been immune to the challenges faced by the global economy.