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Gold/Mining/Energy : SOUTHERNERA (t.SUF) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: VAUGHN who wrote (5730)	2/25/2000 8:34:00 AM
From: Gord Bolton	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7235

Markets leap as S&P upgrades SA OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg \| Friday 2.50pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LOCAL bonds and the rand soared on Friday afternoon on the news that international credit rating agency Standard & Poor's has raised South Africa's foreign and local currency debt ratings, citing the government's success in building a credible economic policy framework. S&P raised South Africa's foreign currency issuer credit rating to BBB-/A-3 from BB+/B. It also raised the local currency issuer credit ratings to A-/A-2 from BBB+/A-2. The outlook is stable. The rating agency also upgraded the ratings on South Africa's senior unsecured foreign and local currency debt to BBB- and A- respectively. S&P praised the government's policies which it said are laying the groundwork for an improvement in South Africa's trend rate of growth. It said real gross domestic product could grow by 3,0% to 4,0% per year this decade, significantly faster than the average of 1,3% in the 1990s. "With modest budget deficits, inflation declining, and a cyclical upturn in output underway, President Thabo Mbeki's administration has stepped up the pace of structural reform," the agency said in a statement. "Importantly, privatisation of state enterprises should accelerate in coming years, helping to keep the public debt burden in check, attract more substantial flows of foreign equity investment, and strengthen the Reserve Bank's international reserve position," it added. Juliett Sampson, economist at Bank of America said: "I find it a bit odd that, with Moody's already rating South Africa investment grade, and this just putting S&P on a par, that markets have still rallied so heavily. That's a measure of the caution that existed in South African markets in the build-up to this announcement. -- Reuters ZA*BUSINESS: