Moody’s: Ekurhuleni Metro a ‘stable financial base’

Charles Molele

The City of Ekurhuleni Executive Mayor Mzwandile Masina has welcomed the announcement by Credit Rating Agency Moody’s that the metro has a stable financial base.

“We are highly pleased by Moody’s credit opinion, which has found the city to have a stable financial base,” said Masina.

“This announcement, following the recent positive audit outcome by the Auditor General, places the City of Ekurhuleni as the prime investment destination in Gauteng and a safe environment for investors. We will continue to focus on raising much needed Foreign Direct Investment to bring the vision of transforming Ekurhuleni into Africa’s first ever Aerotropolis City into fruition.”

The ratings agency said the stable outlook showed that the City of Ekurhuleni will sustain its comparatively financial performance and liquidity despite increased capital spending and debt over the three years.

“Its track record of prudent budgetary management supports the outlook,” said the ratings agency in a statement.

However, Moody’s cited the City’s high capital spending pressure for service delivery as a challenge.

Masina, commenting on the challenges raised in the credit opinion, said this was a reflection of “our Pro-Poor stance as Government and the results of the Gauteng City Region Quality of Life Survey 2017/2018, which placed the city as the best metro in terms of services, ahead of the City of Tshwane and the City of Johannesburg”.

“As the City, we have prioritised service delivery as an urgent daily activity. Beyond building a growing economy, we seek to build a wellbeing economy within our city, which is preoccupied with the livelihoods of our citizens. Providing quality healthcare, inclusive human settlement and educating our youth will continue to put pressure on our capital spending, but we are fully aware that this will bear fruit in the near future, as we begin to realise the potential of our demographic dividend,” said Masina.

The ratings agency also found that the city’s consistently strong liquidity remains above the average of its rated peers in South Africa (Baa3 stable) and will mitigate its exposure to increasing capital requirements.