Glaring omissions from Mboweni’s MTBPS

By Nolan Wapenaar and Casey Delport

CAPE TOWN – In what is seemingly becoming his trademark, Finance Minister Mboweni delivered a short-worded budget speech, highlighting both the need for fiscal consolidation and the high execution risk present.

One can best describe the contents of the speech in three categories: The good, the bad and the mysterious.

The good

Government reiterated its commitment to reduce spending growth, shift spending patterns and stabilise the debt-GDP ratio in the medium term. Positively, the projected fiscal consolidation is not premised on unduly optimistic revenue expectations or excessive tax hikes. Furthermore, economic growth estimates for 2021 (3.3 percent), 2022 (1.7 percent) are more on the low side – thus leaving scope for a positive uptick.