Unpacking Mboweni’s Budget playbook takeaways
JOHANNESBURG – Economists have warned that South Africa’s muted growth and pace of implementing reforms could throw the economy into a tailspin if Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s Budget speech tomorrow fails to inspire ratings agencies.
Investec economist Lara Hodes yesterday said that Investec was anticipating a widening of the fiscal deficit, underpinned by weaker economic growth than previously projected.
Hodes said they anticipated the consolidated Budget deficit to be slightly higher than forecast in the medium-term Budget policy statement at 6.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019/20.
“The tightening of fiscal levers is key to rebuilding confidence and avoiding further credit rating downgrades,” Hodes said.
Mboweni’s task to reduce the country’s debt burden and defend the last investment grade credit rating is not going to be easy.
Source: iol.co.za