The National Treasury welcomes the announcement by investment bank Citigroup, to consider including South African government bonds in its World Government Bond Index (WGBI).
The WGBI was created in 1987 and currently comprises 22 countries including Australia, Canada, Germany and the United States. Many global bond funds are benchmarked against the WGBI.
South Africa has and continues to enjoy strong capital flows into the bond market. These inflows have been a direct benefit of prudent fiscal and macro-economic policies that have helped to cushion South Africa against the worst effects of the global financial crisis.
Should Citigroup decide to include South African bonds in the WGBI, it would further aid South Africa and its state-owned companies to raise funds for the huge infrastructure programme.
