Pravin: glass is half full; Moody’s: it’s half empty

PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma had paid for non-security upgrades to his private Nkandla home, the National Treasury said, in line with a court order issued in March. In June, the Treasury said he should pay R7.8-million for the non-security upgrades. SOUTH Africa’s current-account deficit narrowed to 3.1% of GDP in the second quarter from a revised deficit of 5.3% in the first, the Reserve Bank said. Economists had expected a 3.6% deficit for the second quarter. THE state-run Land Bank, a key lender to farmers, reported a 27% increase in annual profit to R396.2-million despite the severe drought. Total loans given by the bank increased by 3.2% in the face of the drought. THE economy was not in “recession territory” and there was a more than 50% chance ratings agencies would not downgrade it to junk status this year, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan told business leaders in Johannesburg. CREDIT ratings agency Moody’s warned that it could cut the investment grades of Eskom‚ Sanral‚ the IDC‚ the Development Bank of Southern Africa and the Land Bank imminently‚ after it placed them on immediate review for a downgrade. ENERGY and chemicals group Sasol reported a 17% fall in full-year earnings due to lower crude oil prices and warned that the economic environment it operated in remained “volatile and uncertain”. RETAIL sales grew 0.8% year on year in July after expanding by a revised 1.4% in June, Stats SA data showed. On a month-on-month basis, sales fell 0.4% but were up 2% in the three months to July against the same period last year. ASPEN Pharmacare posted a 23% drop in full-year profit as heavy losses from its Venezuelan business and a weak performance in its home market weighed on earnings. Headline earnings per share fell to 889c (1 149.9c).