CLAIRE BISSEKER: SA will never get on top of its debt crisis as long as the state thinks bigger is better
Boosting government spending to get SA out of its fiscal crisis would be a recipe for disaster if the experience of the past decade is anything to go by
27 August 2019 - 05:08
SA cannot avoid having a debate about the size and role of the state in the economy as it grapples with returning to fiscal sustainability.
Some would have the government increase spending to boost growth as a way of getting SA out of the current fiscal crisis. The problem is that the big hike in government expenditure over the past decade — which has taken SA’s average spending-to-GDP ratio from just more than 25% (1994-2007) to just more than 30% (2008-2018) — has not provided the expected boost to growth...
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