S&P Global Ratings is scheduled to deliver its latest verdict on SA’s credit worthiness on Friday, which it usually does around midnight. At its last South African sovereign credit rating decision, on November 24, S&P cut rand-denominated government bonds to its first tier of junk, BB+. When making the downgrade, it changed its outlook from negative to stable. The big three credit rating agencies tend to use their outlooks to give at least three months’ advance warning if they intend to change the sovereign credit rating of a given country. This means the stable outlook that S&P gave SA in November makes a further downgrade unlikely in Friday’s review. But there is the fear that S&P will change its outlook to negative, given the parlous states of Eskom, South African Airways and other state-owned enterprises. In February, S&P cut Eskom’s credit rating to its seventh tier of junk, CCC+. "Downside pressure on the ratings could develop if economic performance and fiscal outcomes deteri...
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