Junked: What else could possibly go wrong for SA ...
Moody’s decision to junk SA’s last remaining investment-grade credit rating is like a long-awaited death – hardly a surprise, but still painful when it finally happens
The downgrade by Moody’s Investors Service has struck a further blow to the punch-drunk SA economy, which was already reeling from the apocalyptic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Not since 1994 have SA’s local currency ratings been this low. All the progress achieved over the past 25 years — during which SA’s ratings peaked in 2006 at A+ with S&P Global Ratings — has now been wiped out.
This is reflected in the rand, which traded at its weakest level yet against the dollar, at R18.05/$ early on Monday morning, before pulling back slightly. In January it was trading at R14/$ before the pandemic caused a seismic retraction in global risk appetite...
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