At the start of 2012, the debt crisis in Europe has been dominating world financial headlines and observers predict that the global economy will struggle in 2012. The rest of the world is starting to brace itself for the ripple effects on economic growth and volatility in financial markets. South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said towards the end of 2011 that there were “considerable risks” to the domestic economy and at that point there was no need for additional policy changes, but that South African leaders will need to continue closely monitoring global developments in preparation for the 2012 budget to assess the impact on our economy.