South Africa can avoid credit downgrades , Finance Minister says

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa is making progress towards avoiding rating downgrades despite the economy not growing fast enough, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan told a trade union gathering on Wednesday a week before reading his mid-term budget speech.

Ratings agencies have warned they could cut the country’s credit rating to “junk” by year-end if the country does not lift growth to at least 1 percent annually.

“As a country we have to understand that unless we solve the low growth problem, we don’t have fiscal resources required for all needs,” Gordhan said.

“The ratings agencies will say these promises that you guys made between March and June this year, you gave us milestones that you would cover, how much have you done? I believe we can begin to show a report card that does indicate some progress.”

Source: Reuters Africa News