Lesetja Kganyago: Overview of the South African economy

Address by Mr Lesetja Kganyago, Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, to the ninety-seventh annual ordinary general meeting of the SARB shareholders, Pretoria, 28 July 2017.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

This past year has been extremely eventful, from both an economic and a political perspective. This has been the case both globally and domestically. 

A number of themes dominated the global backdrop. First, there were major shifts in the political settings. Surprise outcomes in the UK1 referendum regarding its continued membership of the European Union and in the US2 presidential election coincided with increased concerns about the rise of political populism in a number of regions, a backlash against rising inequality blamed on globalisation, and a rise in nationalistic tendencies. The French political landscape changed dramatically, given the decimation of traditional parties, but a strong move to the extreme right did not transpire as feared.