BL Premium reports that both business and labour have endorsed the idea that government should temporarily top up welfare grants as a response to the Covid-19 economic crisis.
Finance Minister Tito Mboweni will be taking a firm proposal to cabinet on Wednesday. He indicated on Tuesday that the Treasury would present the cabinet with a package of fiscal measures for consideration. The Treasury is reprioritising the budget to shift resources into health care and will need to revise its revenue projections and debt consolidation timetable in line with the new reality of the lockdown. Mboweni will present a consolidated budget statement to the country soon. Of the proposals going to cabinet, the two most significant are the topping up of welfare grants and a proposal for a credit guarantee scheme through which the government would act as a backstop to credit extension to the private sector. The full economic consequences of the lockdown are not yet clear, but a large contraction in the economy and large-scale business failures and job losses are expected. "We are looking at adjusting the child support grant and the old age pension temporarily. We need to think strategically about each one and how they can provide support to the broader community. Tomorrow (Wednesday) we will have a firm position," Mboweni indicated. Labour federation Cosatu has also put forward a proposal to top up social grants as "the quickest way to get immediate relief to the poorest households".
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Carol Paton at BusinessLive (paywall access only)
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