Moody's gives poll the nod

RATINGS agency Moody's has given South Africa's elections the nod‚ saying the ANC victory meant a continuation of macroeconomic policy‚ which was "credit positive" for the country's ratings.

Moody's has South Africa's sovereign credit rating at Baa1 with a negative outlook. It referred to the elections as the most competitive yet.

Moody's senior vice-president‚ Kristin Lindow‚ said despite the ANC's overall success and a relatively small loss in support‚ they would expect the election outcome to lead to a certain amount of introspection within the party rather than complacency.

It said the fact that the official opposition favoured a prudent macroeconomic policy agenda such as the one that had been pursued over the last 20 years further suggested a stable macroeconomic policy environment.

"The combined vote tally of 84% for the two parties indicates that any opposition to these policies is quite weak‚" Lindow said.

Moody's said the ANC's formal endorsement of the National Development Plan was also a positive for the sovereign credit rating. – BDlive