Moody’s Investors Service downgraded South Africa to junk status late last night.
In the statement, The National Treasury says that the decision by Moody’s could not have come at a worse time.
South Africa like many other countries, is seized with containing the outbreak of the Covid-19. The impact of Covid-19 is felt across various sectors of the economy including the financial markets which experienced a significant sell-off in equities, bond and exchange rates as investors retreated to safe-haven securities amid the uncertainty the statement reads.
Moody’s decision comes three years after Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings (S&P) and Fitch Ratings downgraded South Africa to junk status in April 2017.
The decision means the country is now in complete junk status.
To say we are not concerned and trembling in our boots about what might be in the coming weeks and months is an understatement said Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni.
Minister Mboweni says it is with a heavy heart to note that all three major credit rating agencies currently rate South Africa at sub-investment grade.
