* Sluggish economic growth hitting revenue
* Strikes to hit output in 2012
* Gordhan vows to keep spending in check
* Slams credit downgrades as inappropriate
By Stella Mapenzauswa
CAPE TOWN, Oct 25 (Reuters) – South Africa cut its growth
forecasts and predicted a wider budget deficit on Thursday,
citing fallout from the worst mining strikes since apartheid,
but Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan promised to cap spending to
assuage bond investors’ concerns.
He also dismissed talk of a crisis in Africa’s biggest
economy, where 100,000 workers have downed tools in the last
three months, saying the country was on a firmer financial
footing than most developed countries.
The Treasury cut its 2012 growth forecast to 2.5 percent
from the 2.7 percent of earlier in the year, reflecting
infrastructure bottlenecks and the impact of nearly three months
of strikes in the platinum and gold mines.
Continued…
