JOHANNESBURG- South Africa’s Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene said he met ratings agency Moody’s on Monday and discussed issues around growth and balance sheets of state firms.
Nene told a media briefing it would not be possible to“spin” the rating agencies but he was confident the Treasury had“presented a credible story in the 2018 budget that was not littered with ifs but instead with when’s.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced his new cabinet on last month which included the return of Nhlanhla Nene as Finance Minister. Ramaphosa announced that Nene will be replacing Malusi Gigaba, who is now the minister of Home Affairs. Mondli Gungubele was announced as the new deputy minister of finance.
Nhlanhla Nene served as Finance Minister between 2014 to 2015 and was subsequently axed by former president Jacob Zuma in favour of MP David van Rooyen.
Also read: Meet SA's new Finance Minister, Nhlanhla Nene
Zuma allegedly promised Nene “another strategic position” which would be “announced in due course’.
However, nothing came of this and Zuma later nominated Nene as head of the African regional centre of the BRICS bank.
Similarly, this job also did not materialise which led Nene to the private sector, exiting parliament in 2016.