Budget SPEECH day 2024 set for 21 February

Budget speech day 2024 promises to be an important one for South Africa. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana held over many important decisions from his Medium-Term Budget Presentation (MTBP) back in November 2023. So, make sure to mark it bold in your diary – Wednesday 21 February 2024.  

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Budget speech day 2024 should hopefully shed some light on government’s planned cost-cutting measures. Similarly, the African National Congress (ANC) will provide clarity on how the fiscus can recoup an estimated R15-billion shortfall in taxes, reports Engineering News.

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BUDGET SPEECH DAY 2024

Another hot topic for budget speech day 2024 will be the continued fate of the ruling party’s welfare state. Earlier in the year, President Cyril Ramaphosa trumpeted the ANC’s ‘pro-poor’ policies, saying 28-million grant recipients was the most in Africa. But will Godongwana – who’s been outspoken about too much reliance on government grants – and the National Treasury be able to continue funding such schemes?

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There’s been widespread talk of the South African Social Security Agency’s Social Relief of Distress Grant morphing into a Basic Income Grant (BIG), too. And budget speech day 2024 could very well be the day we hear how the ANC plans to fund it. It’s a move that will no doubt go over very well ahead of the 2024 National Elections in a country grappling with more than 40% youth unemployment.  

AUSTERITY MEASURES

So far, promises to curb government spending haven’t amounted to much and analysts have questioned whether or not the state has the stomach for genuine austerity measures. Especially, as mentioned, in an all-important election year. And with promises of wage increases for civil servants across the board still firmly on the table.

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In order to raise the country’s missing money, economists are concerned value-added tax (VAT) may be increased. Statements on Eskom debt, load shedding, Transnet and any other state-owned-enterprise bailouts will also be heavily scrutinised. The Finance Minister has made no new allocations for bailouts of state-owned companies for the next two years. We’ll see if this stays the same on budget speech day 2024.

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What do you want to hear on budget speech day 2024? Be sure to share your thoughts with our audience in the comments section below. And don’t forget to follow us @TheSANews on X and The South African on Facebook for the latest updates.