Economics

Fitch Cuts South Africa Ratings Outlook After Eskom Bailout

  • South Africa debt assessed at one level into junk by Fitch
  • Fitch sees budget deficit at 6.3%/GDP in 2019-20 fiscal year

Emissions rise from the Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. Duvha coal-fired power station near Witbank in Mpumalanga, South Africa, on Wednesday, June 12, 2019.

Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg
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South Africa risks falling further into sub-investment territory after Fitch Ratings Ltd. cut the outlook on its assessment of the country’s debt to negative.

Fitch reduced the outlook from stable while affirming the junk BB+ rating on nation’s foreign- and local-currency debt, it said in an emailed statement Friday. A negative outlook usually indicates that the next move could be a downgrade.