Tackle waste before raising taxes: DA’s budget advice to Gordhan
MPs David Maynier and Alf Lees say SA needs a growth-boosting budget, spending cuts and asset sales
Structural reforms to promote economic growth, the sale of nonstrategic assets and cutting spending are three ways Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan could address the government’s revenue shortfall, DA finance spokesman David Maynier said on Monday. Maynier and deputy spokesman Alf Lees presented the DA’s proposals for the 2017-18 budget which Gordhan will table in Parliament Wednesday. Tax increases are expected as a way of plugging the R28bn fiscal hole in 2017-18. But the DA MPs believed there were other ways to raise revenue apart from raising taxes, such as boosting economic growth, selling assets and cutting expenditure. Another instrument at the minister’s disposal, Maynier said, was to eliminate waste. "With decisive action to boost economic growth, government could raise significant amounts of additional revenue in 2017-18," he said. An increase of one percentage point in gross domestic product could raise R18.2bn in additional revenue in 2017-18, assuming a tax buoyancy rate...
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