Gigaba off to Davos to cash in on swell

Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba met the head of the CEO Initiative Jabu Mabuza on Tuesday to thrash out a strategy for SA Inc at the World Eco nomic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos next week.

Also under discussion were the views credit-ratings agencies have of SA and the steps that need to be taken to prevent a downgrade by Moody’s.

Moody’s is the only one of the credit ratings agencies that still has both foreign- and local-currency South African government bonds on “investment grade”. However, the rating is on review for a downgrade, which will depend on how Gigaba’s February 21 national budget addresses concerns over low growth and fiscal consolidation.

Plans for the national budget were also discussed with the CEO Initiative as well as ways in which government could collaborate with the private sector.

The South African delegation to the event will be led by newly elected ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa, with Gigaba playing the role of lead minister and co-ordinator.

The South African delegation will be riding on the sense of renewed business confidence engendered by Ramaphosa's election which has seen a significant strengthening of the rand.

The Department of Trade and Industry would be working hard to ensure that the increase in business confidence translated into investment, said the department’s director-general Lionel October.