Budget Speech: All eyes on Godongwana's plans to address economic growth

JOHANNESBURG - As Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana gets ready to deliver his maiden Budget Speech, there is much anticipation about how he will address stagnation in economic growth and what monetary interventions will be made.

The minister will make his speech under precarious circumstances on Wednesday afternoon as growth remains muted but the commodity boom has been serving as a boost, increasing the country's revenue.

When Minster Godondwana takes the podium on Wednesday afternoon, many South Africans will tune in to hear how he plans on promoting economic growth, whether there will be added financial burdens by increased taxes on fuel, tobacco and alcohol and how government plans on creating an environment that promotes job creation.

During his Mid-Term Budget Policy Statement in November, Gondongwana said that government would accelerate structural reforms to promote growth.

Head of advocacy and thought leadership at the Black Management Forum, Monde Ndlovu, has suggested how he can do this.

"We've got to look at what is contributing to GDP if we're really serious about re-industrialising and localising, we've really got to re-allocate more into manufacturing, agro-processing," Ndlovu said.

He said that government must reconsider how it defined growth.

"Maybe we should talk about unemployment targeting, poverty targeting, inequality targeting and this growth targeting that needs to be all inclusive because at the moment when you see 2% growth but at the time your economy produces the very evils that your country is fighting against," he said.

The country has been benefitting from the global demand for commodities but it is unclear for how long this will last.