JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – The steep decline in South Africa’s business confidence is a setback to economic growth recovery and will dampen investment, ratings agency Moody’s said on Monday.

“Reduced business confidence implies reduced investment, which would negatively affect growth in South Africa’s already-weak economy, and will ultimately make fiscal consolidation more challenging,” Moody’s senior analyst Zuzana Brixiova said in a research note.

(Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by James Macharia)