Mini Budget Date Confirmed: What To Expect

It is now confirmed that Finance Minister Tito Mboweni will present the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) in Parliament on 30 October 2019.

All principals will be available for the MTBPS tabling next week on Wednesday, the ministry has confirmed.

Mboweni had earlier mentioned that the budget could be tabled a day before the scheduled date to fit in with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s travel plans.

The ministry said MTBPS will evaluate and resolve the trade-offs and alternatives to warrant stable, equitable and sustainable economic growth.

“The MTBPS plays a critical role in the overall budget process because it sets out the policy framework for the upcoming budget and provides the country and its elected representatives an update on National Treasury’s assessment of the current economic climate and outlook,” said the ministry in a statement.

Policy structures for the 2020 Budget and necessary adjustments will be expounded in MTBPS.

Notably, state-owned enterprises; Eskom and SAA’s turnaround strategy will be announced.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his State of the Nation Address in February, made known that Eskom would be unbundled into three separate State-owned entities focusing on generation, transmission, and distribution. It is anticipated that Mboweni will shed light on the plan for the unbundling of the embattled power utility.

The idea of unbundling the power utility arose in attempts to rescue the utility which has been making losses and been dependent on government bailouts.

The power utility has a debt of ZAR 450 Bn. For the year ending March 2019, it suffered a loss of ZAR 20.7 Bn, its biggest-ever financial year loss. The state-owned entity has continuously recorded losses that have had ripple effects on the economy.

The utility’s crippled financial and operational condition has continued to pose a huge threat to South Africa’s economic prospects calling for the need to have it rescued.

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