A permanent basic income grant (BIG) may weaken the credibility of fiscal policy but it may also have positive spin-offs for the economy — while being impossible for President Cyril Ramaphosa to avoid.

That is according to Michael Sachs, Wits University adjunct professor and a former head of the budget office at the National Treasury, who used a paper published on Tuesday — two days before Ramaphosa delivers his state of the nation address — to highlight the risks that could come with the policy and the sacrifices that are needed if it is to be sustainable...

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