South Africa’s finance minister means well, especially in his bid to cut public sector expenditure. But his success requires strong leadership and strategic alignment across the entire public sector.
The credit-ratings agencies are already circling to cut the UK’s grade if it votes to leave the EU. Here’s how their calculations work, and what we should do about it.
South Africa’s Justice Sisi Khampepe swears in David van Rooyen as the new Minister of Finance while President Jacob Zuma looks on.
EPA/Elmond Jiyane
The sudden expulsion of the finance minister makes it hard not to be pessimistic about the South African government’s ability to manage the difficult challenges it might face in 2016.
Bank downgrades have sparked anger in South Africa.
Nic Bothma/EPA
It’s an unnerving time for Africa’s banking industry. On August 19, the ratings agency Moody’s announced it had downgraded by a notch the risk rating of South Africa’s four biggest banks – FirstRand, Standard…
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce is under pressure, with the airline flagging a $300 million half-year loss.
Alan Porritt/AAP
Qantas has flagged deteriorating trading conditions and a potential A$300 million half-year loss in a statement to the market that has sent its share price tumbling. The airline has stepped up its cost…
Troubled bank is co-operating with the authorities.
Rui Vieira/PA
Collapsing business deals, massive financial losses, and a “junk” rating have made recent months a nightmare for the Co-op Bank. In March it announced losses of £634m for the 2012 financial year, largely…
Evaluating the creditworthiness of countries is far from an exact science, yet the influence of credit ratings agencies is extraordinary. Recently, the UK government’s debt rating has been downgraded by…
George Osborne’s austerity plan is under threat.
EPA/Stefan Rousseau
The UK’s former AAA credit rating is no more. Moody, a tyrant of the credit rating system, decided that a downgrade was in order from AAA to AA1 for the first time since 1978. The pound fell in a state…
Subprime ratings have come back to haunt Standard and Poor’s, which is now facing civil action from the US government.
AAP
Kevin Davis, Australian Centre for Financial Studies
Five billion dollars is a lot of money — and that is the amount which the US Justice Department claims were losses incurred by US banks and credit unions from investing in CDOs rated by Standard &…
Demonstrators in front of Standard & Poor’s credit rating agency offices in Paris 15 January 2012.
AAP
For decades, credit ratings agencies were largely ignored by the masses, but in recent months they have continued to hit the headlines again and again. The big three (Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and…
Economic policies – not credit ratings – will determine the future of the euro.
AAP
The decision by Standard and Poor’s to downgrade the debt of nine Eurozone countries last week, followed by the inevitable downgrade of the Eurozone rescue fund two days later, raises important questions…
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s austerity measures are misdirected and too dramatic.
AAP
The move by international ratings agency Moody’s to cut Italy’s credit rating for the first time in two decades will do little to ease concerns about the Eurozone’s debt crisis, despite global markets…
Standard & Poor’s could still downgrade the US credit rating, despite the debt ceiling deal.
AAP
Kevin Davis, Australian Centre for Financial Studies
Washington lawmakers in the US House of Representatives have passed an agreement hammered out between Republican and Democrat leaders designed to avert a US debt default. The move is a further step towards…
Despite attempts at regulatory reform, ratings agencies still act with little threat of litigation.
AAP
Standard & Poor’s downgraded Greece’s sovereign debt rating by three notches on Monday, reflecting its view that it would be next to impossible to imagine a scenario where the country could restructure…
Ratings agencies face tougher rules, but how much regulation is too much?
herval/flickr
The behaviour of credit rating agencies is back in the spotlight, as Portugal struggles with its large debt burden. Credit rating agency Fitch has copped some criticism for cutting Portugal’s credit rating…