Response to public hearings MARCH 2022 1 List of

Transcript:Response to public hearings MARCH 2022 1 List of:
Response to public hearings MARCH 2022 1 List of organisations that made submissions Parliament Budget Office (PBO) Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC) Fiscal Cliff Study Group South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) PWC South African Institute of Taxation (SAIT) Amandla.Mobi Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC) Healthy Living Alliance (HEALA) 1 Road consulting South African Breweries (SAB) Women on Farms Project Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) Main responses Economic growth and reforms: Fiscal policy alone cannot solve the problems of inequality, poverty and unemployment. Inclusive growth and economic reforms are essential. Revenue and tax proposals: Several responses are noted. Expenditure: No further budget reductions were announced in the 2022 Budget. The 2020 Budget allows increases in critical spending areas using a portion of revenue improvements. Fiscal resilience and debt sustainability: Ever increasing debt and debt service cost crowds out the space to spend on critical priority areas. Other matters raised: SOCs: Significant reforms are necessary to improve efficiency of SOCs so that they are not a fiscal burden to the country and serve the people of South Africa in an effective way. Corruption: NT has implemented several new measures to support the fight against corruption in government. Public participation platforms: NT is continuously looking into new ways to make the budget more consultative, transparent and accessible. Business support measures: More regulatory measures (than loan guarantee measures) were taken-up for the loan guarantee scheme which ended in July 2021. An additional loan guarantee scheme is initiated in the new year. Inclusive growth and structural reforms are critical Structural constraints have reduced potential growth for the past decade and remain an impediment to the recovery. The economic effects of the pandemic (lost jobs and delayed investments) were exacerbated by inadequate electricity supply, with the highest levels of load-shedding to date. Reducing regulatory constraints, providing effective services, and coordinating and sequencing economic interventions will bolster public and private investment, which will, in turn, increase resilience and support economic transformation. Reforms are needed to promote growth and employment. These reforms include: Stimulate demand through investment in infrastructure, complemented by employment programmes and social transfers that will boost household consumption. Modernising network industries will support an increase in the economy’s productive capacity Boost electricity production Reduce the cost of doing business. The 2021 MTBPS detailed notable progress on structural reforms through Operation Vulindlela. Work is underway to expedite