S&P lowers South Africa's credit rating by one notch

S&P lowered its long-term foreign currency sovereign credit rating on South Africa by one notch and affirmed short-term foreign currency sovereign credit rating at 'B'.

"South Africa's economy has stagnated and external competitiveness has eroded," the ratings agency said.

This is because the country's economic decisions in recent years have largely focused on the distribution of its national income, instead of its growth, S&P said. (http://bit.ly/2mZaMeR)

The outlook on both the foreign currency and local currency ratings is stable.

(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)