​The national financial account shows the flow of funds among all institutional sectors of the South African economy for both real and financial transactions. In 2018 these flows occurred in a domestic economic environment of lower inflation and a technical recession in the first half of the year, along with electricity-supply disruptions, a weaker exchange value of the rand, a wider current account deficit, an increase in government debt, and some non-financial public business enterprises experiencing governance and financial challenges. The financial flows and changes in sectoral financial instrument positions described in this note reflect the impact of these developments. The quarterly flow-of-funds accounts for 2018 are appended to this note and the annual summary is published on pages S–48 and S–49 of this Quarterly Bulletin.