Gordhan Scrambles to Reassure Investors on S. Africa Budget

South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan will have to do more than just keep a lid on spending to reassure investors spooked by the worst mining strikes since the end of apartheid, said economists from Johannesburg to London.

While Gordhan, 63, pledged to freeze spending targets for the first time since 1998, he failed to say in his mid-term budget yesterday how he will address the fiscal burden of an unemployment rate that’s headed for 25 percent. He may also struggle to contain debt levels as slower economic growth curbs tax revenue. Fitch Ratings said today rising debt will push interest payments above the median for its BBB credit rating.