{"id":26488,"date":"2013-12-20T05:01:22","date_gmt":"2013-12-20T03:01:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/2013\/12\/fitch-decision-to-affirm-sas-economy-fair\/"},"modified":"2013-12-20T05:01:22","modified_gmt":"2013-12-20T03:01:22","slug":"fitch-decision-to-affirm-sas-economy-fair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/fitch-decision-to-affirm-sas-economy-fair\/","title":{"rendered":"Fitch decision to affirm SA\u2019s economy \u2018fair\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The National Treasury says Fitch\u2019s decision to affirm South Africa\u2019s economic outlook is fair, given the tough global economic climate.<\/p>\n

In a statement, the National Treasury said amongst the factors that influenced the affirmation of South Africa\u2019s rating included a strong banking system and deep local financial markets.<\/p>\n

Fitch affirmed the country\u2019s long term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) at \u2018BBB\u2019 and \u2018BBB+\u2019 respectively.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ratings agency said that government debt was largely denominated in local currency and has a high average maturity and this limited exchange rate and financing risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cFitch also indicated that weak economic growth and a widening current account deficit were downside drivers preventing the economy from achieving a more positive rating.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe National Treasury considers Fitch\u2019s decision fair in view of the global economic climate and the South African government\u2019s commitment to its counter cyclical fiscal policy stance.\u201d<\/p>\n

The counter-cyclical approach was one of the toughest decisions that government took to survive the aftermath of the 2008 recession. Government did this by allowing the budget deficit to increase during bad times, before reigning it in when times improved.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs set out in the 2013 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement, government\u2019s fiscal framework is aimed at reprioritising expenditure and revenue, while providing support to the economy and strengthening infrastructure investment for sustainable long-term growth across all critical sectors of the economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe South African government is committed to consistently making efforts to address the concerns identified in Fitch\u2019s rating review which is aimed at improving investor confidence.\u201d \u2013 SAnews.gov.za<\/p>\n

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