MTBPS: Godongwana walking fiscal tightrope
South Africans will hear what the government’s spending priorities are over the next three years on Wednesday afternoon.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana will table his first medium-term budget policy statement under the Government of National Unity this afternoon.
The ANC's parliamentary caucus says it expects Wednesday's budget to prioritise stimulating the growth of the real economy and creating employment.
It says the minister has the hard task of trying to ensure fiscal sustainability by reining in government debt while protecting social spending.
DA MP Willie Aucamp says they hope there will be no further bailouts for state-owned entities.
"We need external investors to turn these organisations around. Treasury should stop constantly being the funder of last resort to SOEs, especially Eskom, where we hope the private sector will be allowed to compete.
"Our economy is throttled as a result of a non-existent freight network. The only way to solve this is to introduce third-party access to our railway lines."
EFF MP Ompile Maotwe says they don't expect much.
"You can't expect anything from the minister because he hasn't really given clear direction on where this country is going. For the longest time, the ANC hasn't done that. The debt today sits at R4 trillion. Back in 1994, the debt was R245 billion. The problem becomes when you borrow money to pay debt."
