(v) A number of new bilateral, regional and international economic co-operation agreements were entered into, such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the arrangements with the European Union for closer economic co-operation. These changes have had a material effect on South Africa’s international economic relations and are reflected in a very visible way in the South African balance of payments.
The accelerated pace of technological advance has also interacted with the rapid rise in financial innovation, with the result that business services and financial transactions now are transmitted almost instantaneously across global networks. Financial instruments have become increasingly diverse, the products more customized, and the markets more intensely competitive.