Tag: junk status

Few countries in transition have managed to get a grip on their public finances as well as South Africa did after 1994. Now, just more than 20 years later, the nation’s credibility and the democratic project lie in tatters as we teeter on the brink of a political and fiscal cliff.

Lullu Krugel, Chief Economist at KPMG in South Africa, shares insight on how South Africa will get out of recession and to turn around the non-investment grade position, the country must embrace transparency and change in leadership and direction.

With South Africa already on precarious ground as a result of its alleged ‘state capture’, not least also the effects of South Africa being...

While South Africans are still coming to terms with the implications of junk status (so far not much), global markets are not standing still and a number of notable developments are taking place.

Talk of radical economic transformation, a concept that has dominated public discourse in recent months, is an outcome of government policy failures, which have left the majority black population on the margins of the mainstream economy, speakers argued during a panel discussion organised by the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business (GSB) on Wednesday 19 April.

It has happened! For months we, as a nation, have been struggling and fighting not to be downgraded to junk status, but on Monday, 3 April 2017, following the cabinet reshuffle, it was announced that South Africa’s sovereign credit rating was cut. However, what does that mean?

On 3 April 2017, Standard and Poor’s Ratings Services decided to cut South Africa’s international credit rating from BBB- to BB+. A rating of BB+ is considered below investment grade (sometimes referred to as "junk status”). Unfortunately, the negative ratings outlook was also retained, suggesting that S&P could revise the country’s credit rating lower at year-end should the fiscal parameters deteriorate significantly.

As 2016 nears an end many begin to re-evaluate the year that was, both personally and professionally. As a result this is typically the...