By Jac Laubscher
Over the years the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) has developed an importance of its own, comparable to that of the main budget. From a macro-economic perspective it contains almost all relevant information (updated economic assumptions as well as the headline fiscal numbers), with the main budget event in February filling in the details.
In view of the tight fiscal situation in which South Africa currently finds itself the focus of this year’s MTBPS, on 22 October, will have to be on feasibility and credibility. The stabilisation of the government debt trajectory and the regaining of fiscal space present major challenges that will require tight financial management for years to come.
However, the picture is not only negative. As illustrated by the accompanying table, budget outcomes since after the shock of the recession in 2009 have without exception been better than initially anticipated.
Read full article here
