TimesLIVE reports that all indications point to greater pressures on the National Treasury to increase various taxes in the upcoming budget. This is the outlook by economists Avias Ngwenya and Marylla Govender ahead of Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana's tabling of the 2025 budget on Wednesday.
In their view, the economy can be described as facing the perfect storm, with high levels of unemployment and low levels of economic growth. SA’s economy is facing extremely high levels of youth unemployment, coupled with very low economic growth prospects, making new employment opportunities almost non-existent. The increased burden of poor performing state-owned entities has also placed the Treasury in an unenviable position "Overall, something has to give as the existing budget is not sustainable," Ngwenya and Marylla Govender pointed out. The economists said in the coming year, it was anticipated SA would need to increase its borrowings even more significantly to balance the national budget. After a recent Pretoria High Court judgment that found that regulations limiting the access to the R370 per month social relief of distress (SRD) grant to only those who earned less than R625 per month was unconstitutional, they expected the social grant strain on the national fiscus would increase. They also noted that the looming water crisis in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal was expected to have dire consequences for economic growth.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Ernest Mabuza at TimesLIVE
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