By Sherwin Bryce-Pease

NEW YORK, South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan says the timing of Moody’s rating review of South Africa next week is slightly unexpected but has described it as an opportunity to demonstrate the country’s resilience.

Speaking to the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) here Thursday ahead of a series of meetings with investors, he explained the frank, tough nature of those closed-door deliberations.

“The discussion are tough, many of the people who are invested in our bonds and the JSE (Johannesburg Stock Exchange) have been there for many years, they know South Africa very well and they are asking tough questions,” Gordhan said.

Characterising the deliberations as excellent, he also addressed the upcoming Moody’s ratings review and a possible downgrade of South Africa’s credit rating.

“They (the Moody’s team) will meet Government, they will meet trade unions, they will meet business, they will meet academics and others in order to collect enough information to decide whether they should leave us where we are, or whether they should downgrade us by one or two notches depending on their assessment,” the Finance Minister added.

“So this is an opportunity for South Africa to actually demonstrate that we are resilient, we do have a story to tell, we have gone through a tough time but we have a plan to get out of it.”

SOURCE: SABC