South Africa Junk Rating Seen Inevitable, This Year or Next

  • Investors see nation as more risky than junk-rated Russia
  • Officials from Fitch met with government this week, Jonas says

Pravin Gordhan

Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
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Should South Africa avoid having its credit rating cut to junk in the next two weeks, it could just be staving off the inevitable.

More than half of 12 economists surveyedBloomberg Terminal by Bloomberg said S&P Global Ratings will strip the nation of its investment-level rating. The median probability of South Africa retaining its current assessment in December is 45 percent, falling to only 20 percent in 2017, the survey shows.