Johannesburg – Now may be as good a time as ever for South Africa to sell Eurobonds for the first time in almost two years.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan travelled to the UK and US this week to reassure investors and rating companies of his commitment to meet fiscal goals. While the trip was billed as a “non-deal road show”, some say an opportunity has opened even as Moody’s Investors Service signalled it may cut the nation’s credit rating to one level above junk.
The government said last month it planned to raise as much as $1 billion in international markets before the end of March, if market conditions allow. That would mean stability rather than lower yields, Tshepiso Moahloli, head of liability management at the Treasury, said on February 24. Since then, rand volatility has dropped, while the premium investors demand to hold South African dollar debt rather than US Treasuries fell as much as 40 basis points to the lowest since mid-December, when President Jacob Zuma roiled markets by firing his finance minister.