In 2008, Africa's largest economy slumped into a nine-month recession, the first since the end of apartheid in 1994. The ratings agency said the country's banks that weathered the crisis were now "finding it difficult to return to pre-crisis levels of profitability because of challenges such as compliance with Basel II liquidity rules, the endemic high consumer indebtedness and continued high loan-to-value ratios."

Jean Francois, an economist at Citigroup said the projections were in line with estimates by local financial institutions, given the lower interest rates. "After good growth seen at the end of last year, we expect the economy to gain momentum, boosted by recovery in private consumption," said Francois.