Jeff Radebe warns the state needs to tighten its belt
Reprioritisation is needed to meet development aims
The overall medium-term budget allocations cannot be increased in 2018 due to slow economic growth and lower government revenues, says Minister in the Presidency and chairman of the National Planning Commission Jeff Radebe. The government would look at reducing expenditure by placing strict limits on contingency liabilities and litigation costs by developing a mechanism with the Department of Justice to determine cases to be defended or for arbitration, Radebe said. Ratings agencies have warned that rising government guaranteed debt and contingent liabilities pose a serious risk to SA’s sovereign credit rating. In a report on the effect of rising poverty and unemployment on SA’s fiscal consolidation process published on Thursday, Moody’s said pressure to increase public spending in response to rising poverty will further complicate fiscal consolidation. In August, Statistics SA revealed that, as of 2015, one in four South Africans (25.2% of the population) lives in extreme poverty, ...
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