According to generally accepted accounting practice, the objective of financial statements is to provide useful information to the primary user groups of such statements, regardless of the size of the entity. The primary users of the financial statements of SMEs are the owners, South African Revenue Services (SARS) and bankers. The recognition, measurement and disclosure requirements of full IFRSs do not result in cost‐effective and useful information being provided to the users of the financial statements of SMEs (non‐listed companies, close corporations and other small entities, irrespective of their legal form), because these users do not need the extensive and complex information provided in general purpose financial statements. Consequently, an accounting standard is required to differentiate between general and limited purpose financial statements. The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issued an exposure draft (ED 222) on IFRS for SMEs in February 2007. These stipulated modifications relating mainly to relaxed disclosure requirements and are more applicable to medium‐sized entities. According to a survey among preparers of financial statements in June 2007, these developments may not be adequate for the purposes of smaller entities, irrespective of their legal form. Accordingly, the study recommends that a formal, separate set of simplified differential reporting standards be developed for smaller entities.

This paper compares international and domestic inflation expectations and inflation credibility, and hypothesises about a possible link or disconnect between inflation expectations and inflation credibility among South Africans. No similar tests have previously been performed using South African data, and there is also a general lack of domestic and international literature on any such possible link or disconnect. While research shows that inflation expectations are taken into account by all countries targeting inflation, inflation credibility is very seldom considered. Although the hypothesis is confirmed in certain instances, it is refuted by a disconnect between the inflation expectations and inflation credibility of male and female respondents in South Africa, which cannot be explained by available data.

Following on five pilot studies on inflation credibility in South Africa aimed at the construction of inflation credibility barometers and a literature review of the international measurement of inflation perceptions, this paper reports the findings of a study on inflation credibility among 493 students at the University of Pretoria. Credibility barometers are reported for different genders, for Asians, blacks, coloureds and whites, and for students in different faculties. The main conclusions are that the inflation perceptions by the different genders in this study do not correspond with international experience in this regard; international use of inflation barometers will ensure comparability of inflation credibility; and that inflation-targeting countries should sample inflation credibility and calculate an inflation credibility barometer. JEL E31, 52, 58

This paper reviews literature on private shareholding in central banks. The literature shows that only a very small number of central banks have private shareholders and the conditions of such shareholding differ considerably between these institutions. Owing these differences, private shareholding in central banks is an area for further research.