CEO at JSE South Africa, Russell Loubser, on Monday dismissed talk of green shoots in the market to signal the end of the current global economic crisis, adding that the turning cycle was still 18 months away.

Speaking at a breakfast function in Johannesburg, Loubser said: "We are better now than we were before. At least we can understand the depth of the stuff we are in," he said.

He dismissed talk of green shoots, arguing that he just couldn't see how problems of this size could be sorted out quickly.

"None of us have seen anything like this before," said Loubser.

He argued that it is not a collapse of the free enterprise system, however, it was a failure of the financial markets that caused the crisis.

Loubser pointed to an attitude in the market of, "if it was legal and profitable, then it got sold." He added that the disappearance of old- fashioned values also contributed, over a long period of time.

No surprises

"The world cannot say, it took us by surprise," Loubser said.

He added that he could not recall a period when economies across three time zones had countries in recession, had banks being bailed out and big companies posting heavy losses. "Usually two of the three cylinders are misfiring. This time all three are misfiring, badly," he said.

Loubser also highlighted a "massive" loss of world confidence. "People are seeing things they have never seen before" - institutions seen as too big to fail have been thrown out the window, he told delegates.

"Big problems take time to sort out," he said, stressing the importance of have to digesting the issues, and then "earning our way out".

"We have to do it carefully and slowly," Loubser said.

"We will weather this crisis, cause that's the nature of human beings," he said, adding that there would be another crisis, saying that it was also "in our nature".

He said that in July 2009, the world had a better handle on the issue. "This time last year, we knew something was coming, it was a rumble in the distance," Loubser said.

He said that changes were afoot. "When we claw or way out of this, it can't be business as usual," he said, arguing the need for more transparency. "You cannot control what you can't see."

Loubser added that there would be inevitable increase in financial regulation, however, he stressed that changes should not be knee-jerk. Decisions should be better considered, and more thoroughly debated, Loubser said.

The JSE head hailed South Africa for not falling into the trap of making hasty decisions, with mostly overseas governments reacting in a knee-jerk manner.

African board

On the topic of the setting up of an African board of exchange, Loubser said: "An African board is getting a lot of executive attention", adding that it was vital to make the JSE more attractive for African companies.

Loubser said foreign participation on the local exchange was crucial, with a need to have foreign currency. He said that it helped regarding the payment of the "huge" foreign account deficit in South Africa.

Loubser also took the time to thank outgoing Tito Mboweni as Governor of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and congratulated Gill Marcus, former Deputy Governor of the SARB on her appointment to replace Mboweni.

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