We’ve left it a bit late but we might get lucky, Sanlam CEO says of SA’s downgrade prospects
Politics is holding SA back from fixing its economy, says Sanlam CEO Ian Kirk. Politics "is holding us back from the real work. The real work starts once the environment is put in the right shape," Kirk told business media on Thursday evening. "There needs to be change. We need the confidence that [political] leadership can provide for business to invest and to get the economy back onto a growth path," he said. Kirk was providing feedback on Sanlam’s involvement with the CEO Initiative, which has seen the country’s largest companies engaging with the government and labour to avert a sovereign credit ratings downgrade and to bolster SA’s economic growth. "We’ve left it a bit late and have gone a bit far, but we might get lucky," said Kirk, alluding to the possibility of a credit downgrade. It was unclear what had already been priced into markets, but a downgrade would raise the cost of borrowing for government, he said. This has knock-on effects on inflation and interest rates, incre...
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