South Africa expected to get a Moody’s reprieve
Tito Mboweni is likely to get a boost at the start of his tenure as South Africa’s finance minister, with Moody’s Investors Service maintaining its rating on the nation’s sovereign debt.
That’s according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Moody’s, the only one of the three major credit-rating companies that still assesses South Africa’s debt at investment grade, is scheduled to announce the review on Friday.
Mboweni was appointed as the new finance ministers earlier this week, after president Cyril Ramaphosa accepted the resignation of former minister Nhlanhla Nene.
The appointment settled markets after pressure and confusion mounted over Nene, following hid admission that he had previously lied about meeting with the Gupta family, who are at the core of state capture in the country.
The move to replace Nene with Mboweni, and experienced veteran of finance and economic roles, was seen as a credit-positive move, which is what analysts will be reflected in the Moody’s announcement on Friday.
Mboweni previously served as South Africa’s minister of labour (1994 to 1998), governor of the South African Reserve Bank (1999 to 2009) and chancellor of North-West University (2002 to 2005).
He is a member of the national executive committee of the African National Congress (since December 2012), a member of the strategic consultative committee of Total Oil Marketing (Africa and Middle East) and a member of the board of governors of the Asia Business School (Malaysia).
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Read: Why Tito Mboweni’s appointment is good news for South Africa
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