In terms of the numbers and tone of finance minister’s speech, there is very little not to like
Finance minister Enoch Godongwana during his medium-term budget policy statement in Parliament on November 11 2021. Picture: GCIS/ELMOND JIYANE
In terms of the numbers and the tone of the speech, there is very little not to like. A commodities boom boosted tax collection by just over R120bn, compared with what was forecast in February. 87% in 2023/2024, few analysts believed it, and more credit ratings downgrades were seen as inevitable. Members of President Cyril Ramaphosa’smight now be embarrassed to be reminded that they advised the government to aim for a figure close to 100%.
He pushed back against accusations that the budget framework is anti-poor, pointing out that close to 60% of non-interest expenditure goes to what he referred to as the “social wage” bill, consisting of items such as health, housing, education and social protection. For SA, the problem has rarely been about a lack of funds allocated in the budget, but rather with implementation and getting value for those rands.
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