Johannesburg – Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba has cancelled his media briefing which was expected to iron out plans for the country’s economy following another ratings downgrade last week.
The briefing will now take place later this week, after Gigaba has met with ANC leadership and the economic cluster.
Gigaba was expected to outline some the interventions that the government will put in place to address some of the challenges faced by the economy.
The economy is in a dire state as the latest Growth Domestic Product (GDP) figures released by StatsSA last week paint a bleak picture that the economy had contracted by 0.7% in the first quarter.
These growth numbers have placed the country in a technical recession, and also suggest that the economy could grow slower than expected.
Another predicament facing Gigaba is the latest credit rating announcement by Moody’s which placed the country’s rating one notch above junk status.
This followed a few months after rating agencies Fitch and S&P Global downgraded the country to junk status, warning of concerns around political and policy stability.
StatsSA also announced last week that the country’s unemployment now sits at 27.7%, the highest since 2003.
The government’s interventions will have to take into account all of the rating agencies’ concerns plus figure a way of pulling the economy out of its doldrum.