A Moody's sign on the 7 World Trade Center tower is photographed in New York, file.

President Cyril Ramaphosa gestures after announcing Shamila Batohi (not pictured) as the country's new chief prosecutor, at the Union building in Pretoria, South Africa, December 4, 2018.

JOHANNESBURG - Rating agency Moody’s has criticised a request by Eskom to transfer a large section of its debt to the government, saying this will place a heavy burden on the state.

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa’s rand fell on Friday, in line with other emerging market currencies, as investor appetite for riskier assets dimmed amid fresh worries of a sharp economic slowdown in China.

Kenya’s fiscal deficit is likely to exceed the 5.7 per cent target of the gross domestic product (GDP) this year, piling an extra Sh78 billions of borrowing or forced budget cuts on top of the current numbers.

Kenya’s fiscal deficit is likely to exceed the 5.7 per cent target of the gross domestic product (GDP) this year, piling an extra Sh78 billions of borrowing or forced budget cuts on top of the current numbers.

"The government debt burden has increased consistently and we expect it to reach 60 per cent of GDP over the medium-term," said Lucie Villa, senior credit officer and co-author of the report.

Nigeria’s credit profile (B2 stable) is constrained by the sovereign balance sheet’s continued exposure to shocks because the government has been unable to expand its non-oil revenue base sufficiently, Moody’s said in its report, yesterday.

While these steps form part of the ruling African National Congress’s plan to accelerate wealth redistribution, commercial banks that hold farm debt could be hit.

LONDON – For clarity we reiterate our baseline: We believe that the government will begin to go down the route of a broad social compact view but then balk at the actual or prospective labour backlash and possible accompanying sabotage that will g...