All Eyes on Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s Budget Plans to Address Economic Growth

As Finance Minister  Enoch Godongwana prepares to table his maiden budget speech, some economists expect the minister to maintain some of the current tax regimes. 

Godongwana is expected to deliver his budget speech on Wednesday as the country looks for some relief from the effects from the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic slump. 

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

Chief Economist at the Bureau for Economic Research, Hugo Pienaar explained to Newzroom Afrika about the revenue overrun the South African Revenue Service (SARS) is expected to collect. 

“It certainly puts the finance minister in a better position that what we’ve had in the last number of years, so he now has a bit more tin the kitty to almost play with in terms of the big expenditure items, so that may be anything between fifty to a hundred billion rand more than what was expected.”

Experts also said they may be no major tax hikes as Godongwana is aware that taxpayers are overstretched.