Flash briefing: Govt court victory against public servants who want higher salaries; emerging markets; euro; rand

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* In a major step towards reducing the country’s high state sector wage bill, the South African government has won a court case over public-sector wage increases that it has refused to pay.
* South Africa is among a number of emerging markets with an eyewatering debt mountain. Bloomberg reports that unprecedented stimulus in emerging markets drove debt levels to all-time highs in 2020.
* Fitch Ratings has the highest balance of net negative outlooks for European emerging markets in more than a decade, while Oxford Economics says rising government debt will slow Latin America’s recovery.
* China has led the global recovery from the coronavirus, becoming the only major nation to see growth this year, and is widely forecast to continue driving the rebound in 2021.
* The euro is on track for its best annual performance since 2017; the rand has been trading around R15 to the greenback. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
16 Dec 2020 10AM English South Africa Investing · Business News

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