Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni’s postponed 2020 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) confirmed expectations that the mini-budget would skirt structural reforms to both bolster economic growth and create jobs.
Below are 10 take-aways from yesterday’s speech:
* Five-year fiscal consolidation pathway to promote economic growth and contain debt and stabilise the ratio of debt-to-GDP at around 95%.
* Gross debt will rise from roughly R4 trillion this year to R5.5 trillion in 2023/24.
* R6.2 trillion spend over the 2021 MTEF which R1.2 trillion will go to learning and culture, R978 billion to social development and R724 billion to health.* Economy forecast to grow by 3.3% in 2021, 1.7% in 2022 and 1.5% in 2023.
* Municipalities to buy electricity from different sources,
* R6.7 billion for the Social Housing Programme aimed at poor, working South Africans.
* A Student Housing Programme (R96 billion) to service nearly 300 000 students a year.
* Regulation 28 to be reviewed and for retirement funds to increase investment in infrastructure,.
* R23bn allocated to Eskom.
* R6.5bn allocated to SAA to settle debt and interest and R10.5 billion to implement its business rescue plan.
(Source: BizNews)