Budget Speech set to test whether GNU partners on same page
The tabling of the first budget under a Government of National Unity (GNU) is set to be the real test of whether coalition partners are on the same page regarding the country’s spending priorities.
Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen, chairperson of the National Agricultural Marketing Council, Angelo Peterson and NAMC CEO Simphiwe Ngqangweni at a media briefing at Parliament on misinformation by business forum, Sakeliga. Picture: Lindsay Dentlinger / Eyewitness News
CAPE TOWN - The tabling of the first budget under a Government of National Unity (GNU) is set to be the real test of whether coalition partners are on the same page regarding the country’s spending priorities.
In October, GNU partners gingerly supported the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, often referred to as the mini-budget.
But with the threat of a tax hike looming, there's a lot more riding on what the finance minister will put before Parliament on Wednesday afternoon.
With less than 24 hours to go, Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen on Tuesday said there were still sticking points.
Melding African National Congress (ANC) economic policy with that of the DA is always going to be a tough ask.
Add to that soaring debt and revenue that doesn’t match expenditure.
Steenhuisen said that the biggest fear for his party in this budget was a tax hike.
"It's going to be very difficult for me to sell a tax increase or a VAT increase to a population that’s already reeling under a cost-of-living crisis."
Steenhuisen said that government can't continue to borrow its way out of debt and raising personal income taxes had already reached the point where it won't have the desired effect of increasing revenue.
"We've made our position very clear within the GNU, both to the minister of finance and we will continue to do so around issues that we think need to be prioritised, things like growth, how do we get growth going."
Even if his party doesn’t agree with everything the finance minister puts on the table on Wednesday, Steenhuisen said there was still time to make adjustments before the final budget was passed.