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Johannesburg - Moody's rating agency's downgrading of South Africa's credit rating outlook was wrong, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe said on Friday.
"We respectfully disagree with Moody's," he told a presentation at the Gordon Institute of Business Science in Johannesburg.
"[Moody's downgrade] demonstrates the superficial way in which world rating agencies conduct their ratings."
Last week, Moody's changed its credit rating outlook for South Africa's economy from stable to negative.
Motlanthe said this was done even though South African banks had avoided the crisis thanks to measures including the introduction of the National Credit Act.
He said Moody's revealed a lack of understanding of the approach taken by government to deal with the financial crisis.
This included working with business and organised labour to try to avoid retrenchments and placing jobs at the centre of economic recovery.
Moody's rating agency said last week it was concerned South African politicians would not be able to stick to strict fiscal policies as this could be undermined by pressure from the ANC and labour.
The agency said the ANC's "unwillingness to definitively reject demands from certain segments of the political spectrum for more activist policy interventions was harmful to South Africa's economic prospects".
"We respectfully disagree with Moody's," he told a presentation at the Gordon Institute of Business Science in Johannesburg.
"[Moody's downgrade] demonstrates the superficial way in which world rating agencies conduct their ratings."
Last week, Moody's changed its credit rating outlook for South Africa's economy from stable to negative.
Motlanthe said this was done even though South African banks had avoided the crisis thanks to measures including the introduction of the National Credit Act.
He said Moody's revealed a lack of understanding of the approach taken by government to deal with the financial crisis.
This included working with business and organised labour to try to avoid retrenchments and placing jobs at the centre of economic recovery.
Moody's rating agency said last week it was concerned South African politicians would not be able to stick to strict fiscal policies as this could be undermined by pressure from the ANC and labour.
The agency said the ANC's "unwillingness to definitively reject demands from certain segments of the political spectrum for more activist policy interventions was harmful to South Africa's economic prospects".
