BUDGET IN PERSPECTIVE
SA creates and maintains its own obstacles to growth
Pragmatic industrial policies, based on specific domestic conditions, are required to improve the country’s economy, writes Ernie Lai King
Miracles are beyond the scope of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan. He works within an environment fraught with undercurrents and factors beyond his control, several of which are pointed out in the 2016 medium-term budget statement review. Impediments to sustained economic growth in SA include: policy statements that are unclear; commitments made without clear resource plans; implementation derailed by institutional instability, uncertainty and the erosion of trust; and vested interests and political contests that interfere with decision-making. The main obstacles to economic growth are to be found in our backyard. Infrastructure bottlenecks, low levels of competition in certain markets, a volatile labour relations environment, regulatory constraints and red tape, inefficiencies in state-owned enterprises, uncertainties in the policy environment and the parlous finances of some state-owned companies and public entities. Much of the increase in public debt stems from an unwillingness o...
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