South African Markets - Factors to watch on May 21

JOHANNESBURG, May 21 (Reuters) - The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect South African markets on Thursday.

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GLOBAL MARKETS

The dollar hit its lowest in two months against the yen and Asian stocks fell on Thursday after news that the Federal Reserve lowered its forecasts for U.S. economic growth over the next three years.

The MSCI index of Asian shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS eased 0.3 percent after hitting its highest in more than seven months on Tuesday.

Hong Kong .HSI fell 1.3 percent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO shed 0.6 percent with bank stocks leading the decline as optimism over the global economic recovery waned on the Fed's cut in growth forecasts.

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2010 SOCCER WORLD CUP

G4S, the world's biggest security firm, will not operate at next summer's soccer World Cup in South Africa because of concerns over the tournament's organisation, the group's chief executive told Reuters.

"We are not going to be involved because we don't think the security is going to be that good -- they are not that well organised yet," Nick Buckles said in an interview.

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SOUTH AFRICAN ECONOMY

South Africa's central bank at its last policy meeting worked under the assumption that the rand's real exchange rate will depreciate by 4.25 percent in 2009 and be unchanged next year, Governor Tito Mboweni said on Wednesday.

In a speech prepared for a function to honour local economists, Mboweni also said that the prevailing global financial crisis has exposed the limitations of structural models used to analyse and make economic forecasts.