South Africa

Government, through Operation Vulindlela, has made progress on several key reforms outlined in its October 2020 economic recovery plan, says the National Treasury.

The National Treasury has availed R2.3 billion in the current financial year to assist in rebuilding businesses affected by the COVID-19 third wave and destruction of infrastructure in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal during the civil unrest in July.

If government is to maximise the value of its constrained spending, it will need to contain costs, exercise prudent and compliant financial management as well as eradicate wasteful treatment of public funds and resources.

Fresh from the 2021 Local Government Elections on 1 November, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana says government has set itself an immediate task of building a capable local government that delivers services effectively and efficiently.

The National Treasury has proposed several changes to the structure of provincial conditional grants over the next three years, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana has revealed in his first Medium Term Budget Policy Statement.

As it prepares for the 2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), the National Treasury is researching possible avenues to consider as it seeks to address social grant shortfalls.

Infrastructure allocation for health will in the interim be delayed as government continues to prioritise its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, says Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana.

Service delivery will be the focus of the budget over the next three years, says Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana.

Delivering his maiden medium term budget on Thursday, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana says policy statement is about navigating South Africa’s path to economic and social recovery by expediting the implementation of structural reforms.

Successfully tackling high levels of unemployment, particularly among young people, will rely on the effective implementation of the Economic Recovery Plan, the National Treasury said on Thursday.

With debt service costs standing at 21 cents to the rand due to a high expenditure items like the public sector wage bill, the National Treasury has announced that spending will remain restrained over the next three years.

The National Treasury has projected the country’s economy to grow by a rate of 5.5 % in 2021.

The National Treasury says it will use the higher-than-expected revenue collection to reduce the budget deficit.

Inflation is expected to rise to 4.5 % in 2021 due to pressures from food and energy prices, the National Treasury said on Thursday.

Fiscal and critical policy considerations are expected to be the order of the day when Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana delivers his first Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) in Parliament today.