ELIMINATION OF POVERTY
Slow GDP growth ‘will curtail NDP targets’
SA’s economy is not growing fast enough to meet National Development Plan targets
SA is unlikely to meet its National Development Plan (NDP) targets because it has recorded dismal growth rates for successive years, according to analysts. President Jacob Zuma said in his state of the nation address the economy was expected to grow 1.3% in 2017, up from the 0.5% forecast for 2016. Despite the uncertain global environment, SA had entered a period of recovery, Zuma proclaimed. But the economy is not growing fast enough to create much-needed jobs. The NDP, a long-term plan articulating the country’s vision to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality by 2030, was adopted by the Cabinet in 2012. It proposes creating 11-million jobs by 2030 and to reduce unemployment. To achieve some of these goals, the NDP notes that by 2030 GDP should have increased 2.7 times in real terms, which requires average annual GDP growth of 5.4% over the period. "It doesn’t look like we will be meeting them [NDP targets] in the foreseeable future," said Investec economist Kamilla Kaplan, notin...
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