20111204
Press TV
The South African finance minister says the burgeoning debt crisis in the eurozone is jeopardizing South Africa's economy as the European bloc constitutes Africa's major trading partner.

"The new epicenter of the crisis in the eurozone is having a damaging effect on our economies," Pravin Gordhan told the state-run BBC on Friday.

He said that European authorities --unable to tackle the region's mounting credit problems-- tend to dictate their investment mind-set.

"When European leaders are unable to make the right decisions, we (African nations) have money moving out of our economies into so-called safe havens" in Europe, he said.

South Africa has cut its 2011 growth forecast to 3.1 percent from 3.4 percent, due to the crisis.

The country's economic growth eased in the third quarter as mining, manufacturing and agricultural sectors contracted, partly due to lower exports.

Eurozone finance ministers agreed on Tuesday to ramp up the firepower of their regional rescue fund and said they may turn to the International Monetary Fund for more help to address the debt crisis.

Europe plunged into financial crisis in early 2010. Insolvency now threatens heavily debt-ridden countries such as Greece, Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain.

There are fears that more delays in resolving the eurozone debt crisis could push not only Europe, but also much of the rest of the Western world back into recession.