MTBPS 2024: Godongwana reveals 'pro-growth agenda' focused on stability of public finances
Godongwana tabled the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement at the National Assembly in Cape Town on Wednesday.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana delivers the budget speech during a joint National Assembly sitting at the Cape Town City Hall. Picture: Supplied/@SAgovnews on X
CAPE TOWN - Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana says he’s upbeat about the country’s public finances, as the National Treasury takes stock of its revenue and spending projections for the current and next three years.
Godongwana tabled the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement at the National Assembly in Cape Town on Wednesday.
He set out what he calls a “pro-growth agenda” to address South Africa’s challenges, to restore economic growth and the overall stability of public finances.
Godongwana says the country is slowly starting to reap the rewards of a more stable global environment, structural reforms, uninterrupted power supply and cautious confidence in the new Government of National Unity.
Despite a downward revision to growth for the current year - he says a rebound in financial markets, a stronger rand and relatively lower borrowing costs are all signs that the economy is again starting to turn the corner.
"We acknowledge that we are not there yet. But there is a new light that is shining down on our country and our economy."
Godongwana warns that with more than a decade of underperformance weighing down on the economy, speedy reforms are needed to make the country’s economy more productive and competitive, to ensure economic growth and job creation.
He named four pillars to drive this agenda: macroeconomic stability, implementing structural reforms, building state capability, and increasing public infrastructure investment.
At the heart of some of these priorities , phase two of The Presidency’s Operation Vulindlela is expected to help boost growth, reverse the local government decline, and improve large scale service delivery.