To avoid a downgrade, SA needs to instil greater confidence that entities with R500bn in government guarantees are being properly run, the finance minister says FINANCE Minister Pravin Gordhan on Friday sounded a warning about the financial health of state-owned companies, which include power utility Eskom.He also warned that the domestic and global growth outlooks remained bleak.“As a country we are operating in a global environment that is not going to see growth of 4, 5 or 6% for a long time to come,” Gordhan told the Youth Job Creation Challenge in Sandton.SA economy narrowly avoided downgrades to subinvestment status in a round of reviews by the three major ratings agencies in the first half of the year, but is teetering on the brink of recession.The economy contracted 1.2% in the first quarter as mining shrank and a severe drought took its toll on agriculture.The Reserve Bank’s latest projection is for zero growth in 2016.Gordhan said on Friday that the country needed to boost...
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