Ratings agencies are cautiously optimistic about the future of South Africa following the election of Cyril Ramaphosa as African National Congress (ANC) president. However, they point to the closeness of the Nasrec voting and likely challenges in agreeing and implementing changes to economic and fiscal policy.
In a statement Fitch says the full repercussions of Ramaphosa’s victory will be far-reaching, but they are likely to remain unpredictable ahead of the 2019 elections.
Fitch says political uncertainty in the country is likely to continue following Ramaphosa’s election. The ratings agency says economic and fiscal policy uncertainty could remain high in 2018.
Ratings agency Moody’s says Ramaphosa’s election opens up the tentative possibility of a positive shift in the country’s economic policy and an increase in business confidence.
It says this could reverse the gradual deterioration of the country’s credit fundamentals. In November Moody’s placed South Africa’s sovereign debt, which has a Baa3 rating, on review for downgrade.
