The great treasury brain drain
The treasury dominoes are falling
By removing himself, Michael Sachs is effectively removing the last vestige of credibility from SA’s fiscal framework
A learned SA economist, now retired, said he feared for the day when national treasury would be reduced to scrambling around to find the money to pay for bad policies made elsewhere in government. That day has arrived, marked by the resignation of Michael Sachs, the head of treasury’s budget office. Sachs is the third senior official to have left the department since Pravin Gordhan was sacked in March. With morale in the department at rock-bottom, there are fears that Sachs’ departure could ignite a wider exodus. "I’ve spoken to a couple of chief directors and deputy directors-general to implore them to stick together and to save the institution at least until December," says former director-general (DG) Lungisa Fuzile. "But it just looks as if the push factors have become stronger and stronger."By removing himself, Sachs (who declined to be interviewed) is effectively removing the last vestige of credibility from SA’s fiscal framework. For such was Sachs’ stature in the financial c...
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