Moody’s cuts South Africa’s 2020 GDP growth forecast after coronavirus

Ratings agency Moody’s on Friday cut its 2020 growth forecast for South Africa to 0.4% from 0.7%, one of several countries it saw as having lower growth prospects in a new report because of the coronavirus outbreak.

“The global spread of the coronavirus is resulting in simultaneous supply and demand shocks,” Moody’s said in a global research report.

Moody’s is the last of the major international agencies to keep an investment grade rating on South Africa and is scheduled to review that assessment this month.

“We expect these shocks to materially slow economic activity, particularly in the first half of this year. We have therefore revised our 2020 baseline growth forecasts for all G-20 economies.”

South Africa on Thursday confirmed its first case of coronavirus in a citizen who had visited Italy.

Since the coronavirus outbreak began in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December, it has infected almost 100,000 people worldwide and killed more than 3,000, mostly in China.