Pretoria – South Africa has become the only G20 nation with a positive outlook from Moody’s Investors Service, after the ratings agency revised the country’s sovereign credit rating outlook to positive from stable while affirming its long-term ratings at “Ba2”.
Moody’s said the decision reflects South Africa’s strengthening fiscal performance and commitment to structural reforms, noting expectations of a rising primary surplus and improving debt service costs, which will help stabilise the debt burden.
The agency projects real GDP growth to gradually rise to around 2% by 2028, supported by stronger investment and ongoing reforms.
The upgrade marks Moody’s first positive outlook for South Africa since 2007, which preceded a rating upgrade in 2009.
It follows S&P Global Ratings’ one-notch upgrade in November 2025, when S&P also retained a positive outlook.
National Treasury Director General Duncan Pieterse welcomed the move, calling it “further confirmation of South Africa’s improving fiscal credibility due to a turnaround in the sustainability of public finances”.
He added: “We continue to focus on our two fiscal objectives of ensuring that revenue continues to be ever higher than non-interest spending and maintaining a debt to GDP ratio that comes down from the current year onwards.
“We plan to embed the fiscal turnaround with the introduction of a fiscal anchor for South Africa.”
