If you assume that this was his final budget, it was an almost near-perfect swan song.

As a general rule, as income rises, so debt increases, but in the very low income groups we find an extraordinarily high ratio of debt.

For the local economy, it would mean almost immediate inflationary and economic growth risks, and would require a cautious response from the monetary authorities.

The bottom line is that you still have buoyant company profits and the overall growth story remains positive. I'm a rand bull and not surprised we are seeing these levels.

The world economy is entering a global monetary transition that will see incremental monetary policy tightening resulting in reduced global liquidity.

This is not the beginning of the end for the buoyancy in the local market. The fundamentals of the local economy are sound, however the consolidation is welcome.