Everything you need to know ahead of the mini budget

All eyes will be on Parliament on Wednesday, 30 October when Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana presents the National Treasury’s Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) or the mini budget.

It’s important for several reasons, the overriding one being that it will be the first budget statement presented under the auspices of the Government of National Unity (GNU). Expectations are high that there will have been robust debate around how finances are managed and allocated over the medium term, while not straying too far from the measured path Godongwana has already adopted.

The International Monetary Fund has urged South Africa, first in April and again a month ago, to put a debt ceiling in place. This is especially important given that the debt-to-GDP ratio has widened to a high of 74% on the back of structural gaps between spending and revenue.

Several commentators have once again noted that Godongwana needs to “walk a tightrope”, but isn’t that exactly what a budget is? A balancing act to ensure that spending and revenue are managed within reasonable expectations.

The good news is that the economy is shifting. More than 200 days of uninterrupted power supply has shifted businesses’ bottom lines up, interest rates were finally cut for the first time in four years in September, salaries have started increasing and consumer confidence is slowly burgeoning.

Business Maverick has rounded up four articles that tell you all you need to know ahead of the MTBPS later today:

• An article by Business Maverick editor Tim Cohen, who, believe it or not, had something to do with the mini-budget becoming a thing;


• Old Mutual Wealth Investment strategist Izak Odendaal tells a tale of hippo jaws and fiscal consolidation;


• Ed Stoddard tells you why the economic backdrop is currently the brightest it has been for years; and


• Natale Labia points to four things Godongwana could do to boost investor confidence. DM