Markets have all eyes on Zuma's critical Sona speech
11 February 2016
Cape Town – The rand weakened slightly to R15.92 at 09:55 ahead of President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation speech on Thursday, which will be watched closely by local investors hoping for a sign that the country can stave off a credit rating downgrade to “junk status”.
“While foreign investors remain convinced the downgrade is inevitable, local investors are hoping for at least the right noises from the president, if not even some sort of white rabbit such as a move towards privatisation to generate much-needed funds,” Deon Kohlmeyer, an economist at Rand Merchant Bank, said in a note on Thursday.
“Many South Africans will watch the speech to try and gauge what SA's political future looks like, some will watch hoping to re-live previous chaotic scenes in parliament, with the police and parliamentarians fighting it out,” he said.
“But the markets will be watching for some signs of hope that all is not yet lost and the doom and gloom of the looming downgrade of SA may yet be avoided.”