The African National Congress welcomes the ability of the South African
economy to avert recession given the recent fears on slump which our
economy was going through. The. 0.6% growth has marked the resilience of
our economy that has been in the same band with most of the countries who
had been experiencing economic downturn following the world economic
meltdown.

While South Africa has managed to withstand extreme impact on our economy
it was also taking long to recover owing to secondary factors like the
strike season and performance of the rand due to decline of minerals and
exports.

The payoff of these developments has been as a result of the firmness
correctness of our economic fundamentals and policies. We are hopeful
that this will mark a consistent upturn that will improve the economic
climate and stability of our markets.

We welcome the foresight of government to contribute in the national
economy decisively through its targeted expenditure that will provide
long term stability. We are hopeful that consistent with a positive
economic climate will be the improvement in creating jobs and sustainable
livelihood.