Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana faces a daunting task when he delivers the 2023 Budget on Wednesday. He will have to fill in the blanks left by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who failed to elaborate on Eskom’s debt as well as government’s plans to support economic growth and create jobs during his State of the Nation Address.
Prof. Andre Roux, economist at the Stellenbosch Business School, says when the minister presented his budget speech a year ago the socio-politico-economic environment was inhospitable. This year is even worse, he says.What different groups will hope for “The heavily disadvantaged members of society will be hoping for the extension of social grants, the lowering of VAT, increased spending on education and healthcare, cheaper and more reliable transport and the end of load shedding.”
Maarten Ackerman, Citadel’s chief economist and George Herman, Citadel’s chief investment officer, say Godongwana will have to allocate money carefully, putting it where it will make the largest impact in turning the economy around to regain the trust of South Africans. Frank Blackmore, lead economist at KPMG South Africa, wants to see how funding will be allocated to implement various initiatives mentioned by the president, such as the R1.5 trillion for the just transition and renewable energy projects.
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