The City of Ekurhuleni has rejected global rating agency, Moody’s unsolicited review to downgrade the municipality further into junk status. This comes after Moody has downgraded the city from Caa1 to Caa2, which means the municipality is of poor financial standing and subject to a very high credit risk.
In a statement, the municipality says its financial integrity remains sound while urging its stakeholders to focus on forthcoming reviews by its officially designated rating agency, scheduled after the municipality’s annual financial statement release.
Moody’s says the downgrade is largely due to the municipality failing to submit its audited financial statements to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange within the February 29, 2024, deadline.
The city says the rating by Moody’s is unsolicited and has no agreement with Moody’s for such evaluations.
In a statement, the municipality says it has officially received the Auditor-General’s report on February 29, 2024.
This report is set to be tabled at its upcoming council meeting.
The city has bonds listed on the JSE.
