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South Africa: Mboweni's 'Hallelujah' Moment As Ramaphosa Green-Lights Structural Reform
Daily Maverick, 29 March 2020
Finance Minister Tito Mboweni had a 'Hallelujah' moment when President Cyril Ramaphosa told him that the Moody's downgrade was the trigger to pursue structural reforms. It's… Read more »
Moody's Junk Move a Kickstart for South Africa's Economic Reform?
As the world feels the economic and social impact of COVID-19, South Africans awoke to the news that rating agency Moody's downgraded the economy to junk status, essentially meaning that the country would pay more for borrowing in the future and would not be seen as an attractive investment destination. This threat has been hanging over the country like the proverbial sword of Damocles and is more damning during the country's novel coronavirus lockdown.
Parastatals like energy giant Eskom and South African Airways (SAA), bailed out by the government several times, are failing financially due to gross mismanagement and corruption. Finance Minister Tito Mboweni had asked the government to privatise entities like SAA but to no avail. Now the new junk rating by Moody's may just be the minister's "Hallelujah" moment...
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South Africa: Do Credit Rating Reviews Make Any Sense in the COVID-19 Context?
Daily Maverick, 2 April 2020
As South Africans prepared for a 21-day lockdown, a sovereign credit rating downgrade that had hung like the Sword of Damocles over the country was pushed to the back of the… Read more »
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South Africa: Now Is the Time for Clear and Strategic Thinking If We Are to Save Our Economy
Daily Maverick, 2 April 2020
It was clear even before the pandemic that South Africa's public finances were stretched, the public healthcare system in an appalling condition, and the general level of… Read more »
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South Africa: Never Let a Good Crisis Go to Waste - COVID-19 and Mboweni's Hallelujah Moment
Daily Maverick, 1 April 2020
The impacts of Covid-19, the moves to close down much of the country and major parts of the economy, and the downgrade by Moody's have once again led to the ultimate South African… Read more »
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South Africa: An IMF Loan Is a Generational Debt Trap - Don't Do It Tito!
Daily Maverick, 1 April 2020
The suggestion by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni that South Africa may go to the International Monetary Fund for a bailout to help deal with Covid-19 and the current financial… Read more »
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South Africa: Stop Dancing to Moody's Tune
Daily Maverick, 31 March 2020
Moody's would have known that downgrading SA at this moment would place our government in even greater difficulty in confronting Covid-19 and hobble it in the reconstruction that… Read more »
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South Africa: Markets - Moody's Move Was Priced in, but Pricing COVID-19 Is Impossible At This Stage
Daily Maverick, 31 March 2020
Was the Moody's downgrade already priced into South African markets? The direction that the rand, now near record lows, and bonds took during the month suggest this was the case.… Read more »
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South Africa: The World After Covid-19 - Redefining the Global Social Compact
Daily Maverick, 30 March 2020
In the worst-case Covid-19 scenario there will be whole towns, or even countries, facing mass immiseration, and it's not clear that the IMF or the World Bank will have nearly the… Read more »
InFocus
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Taking over U.S.$16 billion out of the U.S.$119 billion worth of pension savings belonging to 1.7 million current and retired government employees, amounts to a big 13.8% haircut Read more »
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The Public Enterprises Ministry has said in a statement that it is working with South African Airways (SAA) to enable the embattled state-owned enterprise to carry on its business. ... Read more »
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President Cyril Ramaphosa told the country in a nationwide broadcast that this action was "urgently and drastically" needed to prevent novel coronavirus infections from escalating ... Read more »
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On the back of President Cyril Ramaphosa announcement of a lockdown in South Africa, Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel has expanded on the measures that will be taken by Read more »
