Brazil’s slow progress offers SA lessons
The Temer administration dragged its feet on corrective fiscal measures and Ramaphosa needs to learn from the mistake and act quickly to avert
In January, two years after Brazil recalled then president Dilma Rousseff and replaced her with Michel Temer, who promised to bust corruption and get the country’s public finances back on track, Brazil got downgraded — again — by ratings agency S&P Global Ratings. "Despite various policy advances by the Temer administration, Brazil has made slower than expected progress in putting in place meaningful legislation to correct structural fiscal slippage and rising debt levels. Delays in advancing corrective fiscal measures, along with uncertain prospects following the 2018 presidential elections, reflect weaker effectiveness in policy making," S&P said. Substitute SA and Cyril Ramaphosa and 2019 and the echoes with SA could be eerily similar if the new administration does not act fast to make the policy changes needed to boost economic growth and correct its fiscal slippage and rising debt. The head of S&P’s SA office, Konrad Reuss, drew the analogy with Brazil and sounded just this war...
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