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South Africa ’ s Finance Minister Malusi
Gigaba and central bank governor
Lesetja Kganyago head to Washington
this weekend to meet ratings agencies
and international investors in a bid to
boost growth in an economy that is
emerging from recession.
The Treasury said in a statement on
Thursday that Gigaba would use the
meetings during the International
Monetary Fund and World Bank annual
conference to convince investors and
ratings firms that the economy was on
the mend .
Moody ‘s , Fitch and S& P Global Ratings
all downgraded the country ’ s sovereign
credit rating, the latter two to sub -
investment grade , following President
Jacob Zuma ’s abrupt axing of Pravin
Gordhan as finance minister in March .
All three agencies have warned that
persistently low growth at struggling
state firms heavily reliant on
government bailouts pose significant
risks to the country ’s ratings . They are
also concerned about political jostling
ahead of a conference of the ruling
African National Congress party in
December to elect a new leader to
replace Zuma.
“ It is important that we continue to
engage these stakeholders to discuss
interventions on how they can support
South Africa ’ s development process , and
to demonstrate our commitment
towards addressing their concerns , ” the
Treasury said in the statement.
The World Bank on Wednesday kept its
2017 economic growth forecast for
South Africa at 0 .6 percent, and said the
economy would expand below 2 percent
in 2018 and 2019 , warning the country
needed to urgently rein in political
uncertainty.
On Tuesday , the IMF said it expected
South Africa ’ s economy to grow by 0 .7
percent this year, down from an earlier
projection of 1 percent given in July ,
saying rising political uncertainty has
dented consumer and business
confidence.
The leadership contest to replace Zuma
as head of the African National
Congress (ANC ) party has spawned
different rival factions and no clear
frontrunner, raising political
uncertainty. Zuma can remain as head
of state until an election in 2019.
Source:mosyloaded
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