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<\/a><\/p>\nTraders will also examine any plans to manage crippling debts at the state-owned power utility, which is struggling to maintain steady electricity supplies, and the loss-making national airline.<\/p>\n
“The budget is the next big thing,” said Peter Takaendesa, a money manager at Mergence Investment Managers in Cape Town. Sentiment could be boosted by “any credible effort to show that the government is willing to avoid a downgrade and is ready to present a concrete path to reducing government debt with achievable targets,” he said.<\/p>\n
Early optimism among investors of improved management of the economy under Cyril Ramaphosa, president since February 2018, has been partly replaced by impatience over slow progress in areas ranging from tackling ballooning public sector wages to the sale of new broadband spectrum.<\/p>\n South Africa\u2019s economy has contracted in two of the last three quarters, and the International Monetary Fund forecasts sluggish growth in 2020, trailing population growth for the sixth year in a row.<\/p>\n “Investors have become increasingly frustrated with the pace of reforms that were expected under President Ramaphosa,\u201d said Michele Santangelo, a money manager at Independent Securities.<\/p>\n “The historically weak GDP figures and weak expected growth going forward for at least the next two years have also weighed heavily with economic sentiment and expectations for South Africa-centric businesses.”<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n