Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba is confident that the debt consolidation measures announced in the 2018-19 budget will go a long way to satisfy the credit ratings agencies, which have been concerned about the worsening trajectory of government debt. "We think we have taken the tough decisions," Gigaba said at a media briefing ahead of his budget speech. "We believe that together they [all the measures and structural reforms announced] create a positive narrative that is going to improve the ratings agencies’ outlook for SA and in the immediate term stave off another ratings downgrade." In his speech Gigaba said a marked improvement in the country’s finances since he released the medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS) in October. "At the time of the MTBPS, government debt was shown to be on an unsustainable path," the minister said. The improvement in the fiscal situation has been brought about by a combination of tax increases and sharp cuts in government expenditure amounting t...
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