Thumbs down for South Africa's budget

South Africa's currency fell by 2.25% against the dollar shortly after Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan delivered the national budget.
"I expected a much firmer austerity budget," Mohammed Nalla, head of strategic research at Nedbank said.
"This budget will not be enough to help us avoid a credit downgrade in the near future, but it may have helped us buy a bit of time."
In his budget, Mr Gordhan promised greater cooperation with the private sector in an effort to boost growth, which he forecast would drop to below 1% this year.
Increased taxes on excise duties, capital gains, fuel, sugary drinks, alcohol and tobacco, as well as environmental levies, are expected to bring in an extra 18bn rand ($1.18bn).