Covid-19 impact: Moody's cuts South Africa's credit rating to junk status

South Africa slipped into recession during the final quarter of 2019

Moody's has downgraded South Africa's credit rating to junk status, piling more anguish on an economy already in recession and battered by Africa's worst coronavirus outbreak. Two other major international rating agencies Fitch and S&P had cut the credit rating of Africa's most developed economy to subinvestment level in 2017.

Losing its last investment grade rating will see the country being excluded from the FTSE World Government Bond Index (WGBI). The downgrade late Friday came as South Africa began a three-week nationwide lockdown to try halt the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus which has infected more than 1,100