Fitch affirms SA’s rating but revises outlook to negative
Rating agency attributes change to political risk as in-fighting within the ruling ANC is likely to continue for the next year as the ANC moves towards elective conference
Fitch said on Friday it had kept the country’s rating at BBB- but the outlook had been dropped due to the fact that political risks to standards of governance and policy-making had increased and would remain high at least until the electoral conference of the ANC in December 2017, negatively affecting macroeconomic performance. “The ANC will elect a new leader, who will be the ANC's presidential candidate in national elections in 2019.” The agency said in-fighting within the ANC and government was likely to continue over the next year and its view was that this would “distract policymakers and lead to mixed messages that will continue to undermine the investment climate, thereby constraining GDP growth”. Treasury said in a statement on Friday night that efforts made by SA to keep the country on an investment grade have paid off. “The fact that the country’s investment grade status has been maintained demonstrates the resilience of the country and its people, especially during diffi...
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