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Finance Minister Tito Mboweni (Photo by Gallo Images / Ziyaad Douglas)
Gallo Images / Ziyaad Douglas
Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has requested that the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement be postponed for a week until October 28, 2020.
It was originally tentatively scheduled for October 21.
“The President of the National Assembly, Ms. Thandi Modise, received a request from the Minister of Finance, Mr. Tito Mboweni, for an alternative date of Wednesday, October 28, 2020 for the presentation of the Medium-term Budget Policy Statement of 2020 “, reads a statement from Parliament. . In his correspondence with the President, Minister Mboweni highlights the recent complex decisions made by the Cabinet regarding the adjusted estimates for 2020/21 and the MTEF for 2021, as well as the implications of the timelines for completion of reconstruction and economic recovery of the government. plan the budget process as reasons requiring the proposed rescheduling. “
The Programming Committee of the National Assembly had agreed last week on the draft parliamentary program for the fourth term, which included the scheduled presentation of the mini-budget at the end of October. At the time, the Treasury said October 21 was the “tentative” date.
The Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, which sets out the government’s priorities for the next three years, is expected to be impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. The supplemental budget, presented in June, already saw Finance Minister Tito Mboweni warning that the country would face a sovereign debt crisis if economic growth continued to stagnate.
He added that the country’s budget deficit was expected to rise to 14.6% of GDP, a significant increase from February’s projection of 6.8%.
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