The government’s fiscal stance has shifted from one of consolidation to expansion, with its proposal to allocate R32.85bn for Covid-19 relief and to address the consequences of the recent unrest, the statutory body that advises it on fiscal issues said in parliament on Wednesday.

The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) which provides input to parliamentary committees on fiscal and economic issues also argued that the Treasury’s failure to adopt an expansionary fiscal stance in the first place contributed to the social insecurity and poverty that underlay the recent looting and destruction that devastated KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in July...

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