Seldom has the saying “no news is good news” been more true. Moody’s Investor Service on Friday declined to issue a new rating on SA’s debt, meaning the country remains on the cliff edge of junk status, but has not yet been tipped into the crevasse.
According to a Bloomberg poll, half of SA’s economists felt the country would be downgraded, and it’s not hard to see why: Eskom blackouts will probably lead to even poorer growth prospects than were already predicted. In fact, the Reserve Bank itself slightly downgraded SA’s growth for the year as recently as Thursday this week.
Head of Capital Markets Research for Econometrix Peter Attard Montalto said after no report was issued that “South Africa has been denied its cathartic moment of actually knowing Moody’s opinion and updated views”.
AngeloCoppolaSA
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