SOUTH African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana is under pressure to show efforts to reduce the country’s fiscal deficits and rein in debt won’t be compromised by new spending measures in this week’s budget.
Godongwana will present the government’s spending framework for the next three years on Wednesday, as the economy struggles to recover from the damage wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, including South Africa’s discovery of the omicron variant that sparked a flurry of international travel restrictions.
It’s also been hobbled by deadly riots and ongoing electricity supply constraints.
High commodity prices have given him some leeway.
The windfall means revenue is on course to exceed estimates and the budget deficit will probably narrow faster than previously expected.
Still, investors will look to the head of economic transformation in the ruling African National Congress to minimize long-term risks linked to the expansion of the social welfare net, highly contested public-sector pay negotiations and
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