the chief economist at bny mellon investment management. let's get to south africa, and the biggest bailout in the nation's history plans to reorganize. course with the labor unions and concern about potential job losses. the finance ministers budget some concernated over the eminent downgrade from moody's that the market is concerned about. but there was a manifestation. the rand was sold aggressively yesterday. we spoke to the chairman about the bailout. take listen. >> -- take a listen. >> [indiscernible] it is not all we needed. it will go somewhere. we cannot put a lot of pressure on -- get to south africa's minister of public enterprises. it overseas escom. he is the minister. good to see you this morning. so 69 billion rand in a bailout. a smart move, an elegant solution? your take. >> [indiscernible] i think the so-called bailout is just one part of a total solution that we are looking at. the president announced in the state of the nation address that be transformed. secondly, it has through its own accord been on a cost-cutting ex

david: alicia levine of bny mellon, thank you for being with us.up, the world's largest bank merger in more than a decade. bb&t and suntrust announce an all stock deal. we speak to a former bb&t chairman and ceo. that's coming up next. this is bloomberg. ♪ alix: time for bottom line. story --ere's only one bb&t buying suntrust for $28 billion. .oining us now, john allison chris, great to hear from you. do you like the deal? chris: i do like the deal. most merger vehicles have one buyer and one seller. bb&t is the clear buyer. the merger will work. it is driven by technology. the cost of spending to build a banking is ridiculous. smarty, bb&t is being about the early investments they've made. they will integrate suntrust. formidablea f competitor. alix: what other companies will have to consider consolidation? chris: it is possible that you see additional combinations around the country if you consider the midsize banks, they could combine to become a $60 billion company. horizon inee first the southeast. success.positioned for there are companies o