JOHANNESBURG, October 12 (ANA) – South African finance minister, Malusi Gigaba, is set to meet with sovereign credit rating agencies and investors in Washington D.C. this week as he tries to quell fears about the country’s political and fiscal uncertainty.
This comes as Gigaba has demanded that the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), the country’s biggest investor in the economy, reveal its investments and the people it has funded in what is believed to be a fresh bid to oust the PIC boss Dr Dan Matjila.
Allegations of misuse of the funds, which total almost R1.9 trillion, in PIC coffers has sent jitters through South African markets, with opposition political parties and trade unions voicing their concerns about and protesting against the “hijacking” of workers’ pensions.
Gigaba and the National Treasury’s director-general, Dondo Mogajane, will be leading a senior delegation to represent South Africa at the 2017 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group taking place from Thursday to Sunday.
Treasury said that Gigaba, Mogojane, and Governor of the Reserve Bank Lesetja Kganyago will have meetings with the investor community and rating agencies.
The agenda of the meetings include statutory meeting of the IMF and the development committee of the World Bank Group, meetings on the sidelines with finance ministers and central bank governors of the G20, G24, BRICS, and the Commonwealth, and bilateral meetings with ministers of finance from advanced economies, and emerging market and developing countries.
“It is important that we continue to engage these stakeholders to discuss interventions on how they can support South Africa’s development process, and to demonstrate our commitment towards addressing their concerns and restoring comfort and confidence through the 14 confidence boosting measures, over and above the country’s potential to chart an inclusive growth and economic recovery programme,” Treasury said in a statement.
Gigaba’s delegation will also hold meetings on strengthening the constituency office in the World Bank and forging economic
partnerships as South Africa shares a constituency office with Angola and Nigeria that is represented by a
South African executive director at the board of the Bank.
– African News Agency (ANA)
