LONDON (Standard&Poor's CreditWire) Feb. 25, 2000--Standard&Poor's today raised its foreign currency issuer credit rating on the Republic of South Africa to triple-'B'-minus/'A-3' from double-'B'-plus/'B' and its local currency issuer credit ratings to single-'A'-minus/'A-2' from triple-'B'-plus/'A-2'. The outlook is stable. At the same time, Standard&Poor's also upgraded the ratings on South Africa's senior unsecured foreign and local currency debt to triple-'B'-minus and single-'A'-minus respectively. The upgrade reflects the government's success in building a credible economic policy framework, which, in turn, is laying the groundwork for an improvement in South Africa's trend rate of growth. With modest budget deficits, inflation declining, and a cyclical upturn in output underway, President Thabo Mbeki's administration has stepped up the
