South Africa’s fiscal deficits declining faster than expected – SP Global

South Africa’s fiscal deficits declining faster than expected – SP Global

JOHANNESBURG- South Africa's fiscal deficits are declining slightly faster than initial expectations, but slow progress on the rollout of coronavirus vaccines and structural reforms will continue to hamper progress, ratings firm S&P Global said on Thursday. S&P affirmed South Africa's sovereign rating of BB-, or three notches below the investment grade, and kept a stable outlook. In a presentation during a live webinar, S&P said the 2021 economy performance had been boosted by a "cyclical uplift" driven by higher global commodity prices as well as base effects after the downturn due to last year's COVID-19 outbreak. South Africa's treasury in the February budget estimated a fiscal, or budget, deficit of 14% in the 2020/21 financial year, and pencilled in a 9.3% shortfall for the 2021/22 fiscal year. Debt, as a portion of gross domestic product, was seen at 81.9% and 85.1% respectively. S&P trimmed its own forecasts, seeing the budget deficit at 11.2% in the fiscal year ended in March and at only -8.9% in 2021/22. It sees debt-to-GDP at 80.9% in 2021. The upswing in global commodity prices in late 2020 and into 2021 saw South Africa - the world's largest exporter of platinum metal groups and other commodities