SA has a ‘stable outlook’ for the first time in more than a decade — but is that enough?
Policy uncertainty, particularly in mining, cash-strapped state-owned enterprises and corruption continue to hamper the country’s growth
SA might take a while to shake off the curse of Jacob Zuma on its credit ratings. One year since the country lost its investment-grade rating as the former president fired his finance minister, the country is basking in new-found confidence with Cyril Ramaphosa now in charge. He received a boost last month when Moody’s Investors Service ended its threat of a downgrade to junk, citing the positive impact of the changes in political leadership. S&P Global Ratings, which cut the nation’s debt to junk a year ago on Tuesday, said last week the country’s assessments have "bottomed out", and all three ratings agencies have a stable outlook on SA for the first time in more than a decade. Still, it’s too early to talk about upgrades, analysts including Isaah Mhlanga from Rand Merchant Bank unit said. Economic growth will only reach 2% by 2020, according to the Reserve Bank, and government debt is more than 50% of GDP. "If you look at S&P, even if they upped the economic forecast, they still ...
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