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S&P

26 May 2018

Government responds to rating action of S&P 

By Janice Roberts

The South African government says it notes S&P’s decision to affirm South Africa’s long term foreign and local currency debt ratings at ‘BB’ and ‘BB+’ respectively, and to maintain the stable outlook. According to S&P, the rating affirmation is underpinned by the following drivers: “Despite upward revisions, South Africa’s economic growth remains tentative, and the...
26 Apr 2017

Three retirement strategies amidst market turmoil

By Janice Roberts

A few weeks have passed since the political drama that unfolded which caused South Africa’s sovereign risk downgrades to junk status by key ratings agencies, S&P and Fitch. It is clear that tough economic times lie ahead, says Deane Moore, CEO of Just – so what retirement strategies should South Africans consider to navigate their finances...
19 Apr 2017

What to do when the market drops

By Janice Roberts

As an investor, the first action you should avoid when the market drops is panic. Never panic, this can only lead to bad decision making.
03 Dec 2016

South Africa avoids downgrade - economists comment

By Janice Roberts

Standard & Poors (S&P) Global Ratings ratings yesterday evening said it had lowered the long-term local currency rating on the Republic of South Africa to ‘BBB’ from ‘BBB+’ and affirmed the ‘A-2′ short-term local currency ratings.
02 Dec 2016

South Africa avoids downgrade as S&P maintains rating

By Janice Roberts

Standard & Poors (S&P) Global Ratings ratings this evening said it had lowered the long-term local currency rating on the Republic of South Africa to ‘BBB’ from ‘BBB+’ and affirmed the ‘A-2’ short-term local currency ratings.
02 Dec 2016

S&P downgrade: remember the rand debt is two notches above junk

By Janice Roberts

Arthur Kamp, investment economist at Sanlam Investments, says that as fixated as we are with the possibility of a downgrade to sub-investment grade by ratings agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P), all may not be as gloomy as predicted.
24 Nov 2016

Moody's outlook more significant than potential downgrade decision

By Janice Roberts

Amidst worsening unemployment figures and sustained weak domestic demand, South Africa’s fears of having its credit rating downgraded have intensified as they await Moody’s rating review this week and S&P’s review next Friday.
09 Jun 2016

The critical thing is S&P maintains it negative outlook

By Janice Roberts

Many commentators expected Standard and Poor’s Global Ratings (S&P) to affirm South Africa’s long term foreign and local currency bond ratings at BBB- and BBB+ respectively on Friday, 3 June 2016. But, the more critical point is S&P maintained its negative outlook, implying it still expects to downgrade South Africa’s credit rating if prevailing trends...
06 Jun 2016

Economists comment on S&P decision

By Janice Roberts

S&P Global Ratings (S&P) on Friday affirmed South Africa’s long and short term foreign and local currency bond ratings at ‘BBB-/A-3’ and ‘BBB+/A-2’ respectively. The foreign currency bond rating remains one notch above sub-investment grade whereas the domestic currency bond rating remains three notches above subinvestment grade.
06 Apr 2016

S&P economists revise downward forecast for SA 2016 growth

By Janice Roberts

Economists at ratings agency Standard & Poor’s say a range of adverse global and domestic factors continue to weaken South Africa’s macroeconomic outlook.
07 Dec 2015

SA on the lowest investment grade rung

By Janice Roberts

MMI Holdings’ Sanisha Packirisamy (Economist), and Herman van Papendorp (Head of macro research), give their view on Friday’s Fitch and S&P ratings reviews: