Political Analyst, Professor Somadoda Fikeni says President Cyril Ramaphosa will have to address the nation again, especially after the country’s economic downgrade by Moody’s.
He says as much as the world economy is sluggish, Ramaphosa will have to explain what he intends to do in paving the way forward for South Africa during this difficult time.
“As we have seen off-late that he has to consult widely, both politically, as well as the private sector, people and the civil society. So, that’s what he might be trying to do because it looks like, throughout the world this particular pandemic and its economic implications are just getting worse and it’s going crest in the next month or two, before things start slowing down. ”
In the video below economists analyse the Moody’s downgrade:
Fikeni concedes that the president’s hands are tied as there is no certainty about how long the global pandemic will last.
“More important now is the question of saying will we have hospitals ready, the beds , the ventilators, the masks, sanitizers and all essentials – and also the support to health workers, the doctors and those who are in essential services? That will be the key thing in the next month or two. Beyond that, that’s when the planning in the aftermath of this long-term could be addressed.”
The ratings firm downgraded the rating one notch to ‘Ba1’ from ‘Baa3’ and maintained a negative outlook on Friday, meaning another downgrade could follow if the economy performs worse or government debt rises faster than expected.
South Africa’s finance ministry said the downgrade would add to prevailing financial market stress.
Moody’s said the main driver behind the downgrade was “the continuing deterioration in fiscal strength and structurally very weak growth”.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to address South Africans as the country enters its fourth day of the national shutdown.
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