Francois Groepe delivers special lecture

Prof Francois Groepe, Deputy Governor of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and honorary professor in the Department of Economics, delivered a special lecture in the department on Thursday, 22 February. His talk was on 'The special case of banks and the promotion of financial system-wide stability.'

Prof Groepe explained how mob psychology and mass hysteria could lead to a bankcrisis. Although some people believe this could happen randomly, there are empirical studies that suggest that these panics are related to the business cycle. “If depositors believe there is an impending downturn, they will anticipate difficulties in the banking sector and try to withdraw their funds which precipitates a crisis.

He mentioned, though, that the aggregate capital levels of South African banks – the total amount of capital that banks have available – are quite high, standing at 15/16% compared to a global average of 8%.

“Our banking system is quite resilient," said Prof Groepe.