News 11:00

BULLETIN 15 October 11 am

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Moody’s says South Africa is heading in the right direction for a credit-rating upgrade
# Solidarity welcomes the dispute within the government of national unity over AGOA
# And motorsport: Minister McKenzie insists South Africa’s bid to host a Grand Prix race in 2028/29 is still on track

# Credit ratings agency Moody’s says it could upgrade South Africa’s rating if fiscal performance continues to improve. In May, the agency revised the country’s sovereign credit rating outlook from stable to positive, while affirming its domestic and foreign-currency long-term ratings at Ba2. Moody’s vice president, Evan Wohlmann, says the baseline forecast was for debt that peaked in the last fiscal year at 87-percent of gross domestic product to gradually decline to 84-percent of GDP by the end of the decade, supported by an uptick in economic output.

# Solidarity has welcomed the DA and the Freedom Front Plus’ planned action within the government of national unity regarding the African Growth and Opportunity Act. The FF Plus has formally declared a dispute, while the DA has indicated the matter will be placed on the cabinet agenda, with the potential to declare a dispute. Solidarity’s Connie Mulder says government’s reckless foreign policy could result in South Africa being excluded from AGOA:

# Social security agency SASSA has changed next month’s social grant payment dates ahead of the local government elections. Older persons will receive their grants on 30 October, disability grants will be paid on 2 November and children’s grants the next day. Payments for grants under review will be made on the fifth of November. SASSA’s Andile Tshona urges beneficiaries to follow the new dates and attend required reviews:

Moving abroad:

# Streaming giant Netflix is set to cut six-percent of its workforce, ⁠or roughly one-thousand employees, its biggest layoffs since 2022. This will mainly affect human resources, legal, product and technology teams. Co-CEOs Greg Peters and ⁠Ted Sarandos maintain the business is strong, but they need to be disciplined about where they prioritise staff and resources. Competition in the streaming space is growing more crowded, with platforms such as YouTube and TikTok ‌attracting viewers with free-to-watch, user-generated content that gives them a cost advantage over Netflix.

# Motorsport: Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie remains confident South Africa will host a Formula One Grand Prix in the near future. Rwanda secured a place on the F1 calendar for 2030, which will see the sport return to Africa for the first time since 1993. McKenzie has rejected suggestions South Africa had been beaten in the race to host a Grand Prix, saying the country’s bid remains on track:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-56-cents and the euro at 18-rand-57-cents. One British pound costs 21-rand-94-cents and Bitcoin trades at 80-thousand-810-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-142-dollars-53-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 106-dollars-50-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….