CHARLES MOLELE
FINANCE Minister Tito Mboweni has written to the National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise to request a postponement of the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement to October 28.
Treasury said in a statement on Wednesday that the minister made this request following complex and unusual circumstances brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, which included the tabling of the Supplementary Budget in June.
“The Ministry of Finance and National Treasury have had to adjust the approach and consultation of the budgetary process,” it said.
“The Government is determined to maintain a prudent fiscal stance which is in the best interest of the country in the medium and long-term. The 2020 MTBPS will reflect this position.”
Modise said Parliament’s programming committee will consider the request.
“In his correspondence to the Speaker, Minister Mboweni highlights the recent complex decisions taken by Cabinet in respect of the 2020/21 adjusted estimates and the 2021 MTEF, as well as the implications of the time frames for the finalisation of government’s economic reconstruction and recovery plan on the budget process as reasons necessitating the proposed rescheduling,” Modise said in a statement.
(COMPILED BY INSIDE POLITICS STAFF)
