Chairperson, delegates, attendees, ladies and gentlemen, I have been invited to address you on a theme which is consistent with the overall object of this conference – being a consideration of “The South African Economy: Current conditions and Outlook”. Having figuratively drawn the short straw, I have not been asked to discuss the easy part – the South African economy: current conditions. Nor have I have been invited to say something about the less easy part – the South African economy – the outlook. Instead, I have been instructed that “the title of your paper will be “The outlook for monetary policy”- as indeed it is.