Cape Town - South Africa's new Finance
Minister Malusi Gigaba said on Thursday he would meet with
ratings firm Moody's to convince them the country would stay on
the path of fiscal discipline, in order to avoid a third credit
downgrade.
Gigaba, who replaced the respected Pravin Gordhan in a
cabinet reshuffle that triggered credit downgrades to
subinvestment by S&P Global Ratings and Fitch, told local
investors he would clarify Treasury's policy positions to
Moody's on an upcoming roadshow overseas.
"There is no silver bullet in this regard. Nothing is taken
for granted and nothing is taken as a guarantee," Gigaba told
the media after briefing investors at parliament.
"We will do all we can to avoid another downgrade and one of
the ways to do that is to engage with Moody’s directly, to
demonstrate our willingness to stay the course in terms of
fiscal discipline and fiscal consolidation," Gigaba said.
The cabinet reshuffle by President Jacob Zuma, who is
mid-way through his second five-year term ending in 2019, has
roiled domestic financial markets and battered the rand. The
opposition has called on Zuma to resign and held protests to
force him out of office.
Investors have also sought answers over Zuma's policy of
"radical economic transformation", which has been echoed by
Gigaba. Zuma has also recently talked of plans to redistribute
land without compensation.