ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD
ECONOMIC WEEK AHEAD: Ratings agencies to focus on budget speech
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan delivers the medium-term budget on Wednesday and there will be keen interest in whether the state is containing its bloated wage bill, developments regarding state-owned entities and any announcement on higher education. The Treasury reprioritised R16bn for higher education in the February medium-term budget. Will it yield more as fires continue to rage at campuses? The 2016 medium-term budget is no doubt the economic story of the week and will dwarf other scheduled statistical releases. But the stage is set for Gordhan to render what many analysts see as one of the toughest mini-budgets in living memory, not least because of recent developments regarding the higher education funding crisis and the fact that SA Inc is stuck in a low-growth cycle. Also, the 2016 medium-term budget comes less than two months before SA’s sovereign credit ratings are reviewed, making it crucial because the ratings agencies will be watching for deviations that might seal t...
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