RATINGS AGENCIES
HILARY JOFFE: Careful wooing comes to a painful end
Ousted finance minister Pravin Gordhan is believed to have spent hours persuading the agency not to act in December
I never thought I would hear a South African finance minister being asked by a journalist why he lied to the public. But that was the question Malusi Gigaba faced on Tuesday at a media briefing (a two-hour endurance test, replete with long and obfuscatory answers to simple questions, that began almost three hours late). Gigaba, as it turned out, was given notice by S&P Global Ratings on Friday morning — confidentially, as is the norm — that the agency was going to downgrade SA. He and his team decided it wasn’t even worth arguing with S&P, but that didn’t prevent him answering questions about ratings at media briefings on Saturday and Monday, ahead of Monday night’s downgrade to junk status. He certainly suggested SA’s ratings weren’t going to be downgraded; whether what he actually said amounted to misleading the market is something lawyers will perhaps be looking at.As striking is S&P’s speed in taking action, deviating from its schedule, to jump in straight after President Jacob ...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.