Business Report writes that Deputy Finance Minister David Masondo said on Monday that the government was planning to freeze wages across its operations to curb its escalating expenditure.  

Masondo told an investor conference in Cape Town that the government was left with very little room to manoeuvre to meet its R1.2 billion weekly spend, as revenue collection had all but plateaued due to the macroeconomic conditions in the country.  He said the government was working on a co-ordinated plan to reduce its debt and pointed out that fiscal consolidation and the public sector wage bill would be the hallmarks of next year’s much-anticipated budget.  “We are working as we speak with our social and political partners to achieve savings in the wage bill, and we also have to look at wage freezes, starting with the public office bearers, top managers, executives at all levels of the state, if we are to seriously tackle our looming fiscal crisis,” Masondo said.  The February 2020 budget will be decisive for SA’s depressed economy, as downside risks to the country’s investment-grade credit rating remain significant.  Masondo said the government would not be able to raise taxes further in such a depressed economic environment.  Cutting the public wage bill was the most practical way to address expenditure costs, he stated.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Siphelele Dludla at Business Report

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