From Breakingviews: European soccer stars suffer a salary relegation and South Africa’s finance minister talks straight about a credit downgrade. Catch up with the pandemic’s financial fallout
Soccer Football - Champions League Quarter Final Second Leg - Juventus v Ajax Amsterdam - Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy - April 16, 2019.SOCCER SACRIFICE. The coronavirus pandemic has Europe’s star soccer players counting their losses. Players at top teams are foregoing part of their paycheques to ease the financial burden from the forced suspension of matches across most of the continent.
Not every footballer has volunteered happily. Barcelona, which had sought a 70% salary reduction for players including star forward Lionel Messi, used Spain’s emergency law to unilaterally impose a cut. Swiss club Sion fired nine of its players for refusing to accept part-time contracts. With millions of people facing the prospect of losing their jobs, some soccer self-restraint seems in order.
PETRIFIED IN PRETORIA. Tito Mboweni is taking straight-talking over coronavirus to new levels. After Moody’s cut South Africa’s credit to junk status on Friday, in line with other ratings agencies, the Rainbow Nation’s finance minister admitted Treasury officials were “trembling in our boots”. With foreigners owning 37% of South Africa’s 2.2 trillion rand domestic bond market, his concerns are warranted.
The biggest fear is that South Africa’s impending ejection from investment-grade bond indexes will have overseas investors rushing to the exit. The rand fell 2% to a record low of 18.08 against the U.S. dollar on Monday morning. But it may not be all doom and gloom. South Africa’s trajectory has been obvious for years. The coronavirus-triggered stampede from emerging markets will have cleared out the remaining laggards. Other nations are also facing similar downgrades.
CHINESE CARMAKERS REV UP. Geely Automobile has warned that this year could be among the most difficult in the group’s history with the fallout from Covid-19 coming on top of an earlier industry-wide slowdown: the $13 billion Chinese carmaker on Monday reported a 35% fall in year-on-year net profit in 2019. The desperation is evident.
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