Financial Analyst Duma Gqubule has reacted to the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) suggesting that government does not have a plan to grow the South African economy.
Gqubule made the remarks on Sunday after reading the MTBPS speech delivered by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana in Parliament on Wednesday.
“Just finished reading budget. It was torture and waste of time. I advise you not to read it. There is no plan to grow the economy and create jobs. They will not meet their low growth forecasts and unemployment will increase by 500 000 a year during term of this dumb ANC-DA coalition.”
In his speech Godongwana announced that economic growth projections have been revised down from 1.3% to 1.1%, adding that government’s fiscal strategy “sets to out to achieve the fiscal sustainability needed to support inclusive economic growth”.
“It carefully weighs competing demands, making the necessary trade-offs between what is most urgent and what must wait given the fiscal constraints. The strategy also supports critical social services and addresses the significant fiscal and economic risks that lie ahead,” said the minister.
Gqubule maintained that the government has macroeconomic policy tools to grow the country’s economy and create employment opportunities.
“We have a crisis and cant believe in fairy tales about intangibles like ‘creating an environment’ [for business to create sustainable jobs]. Private investment follows GDP growth. Why would anyone invest in collapsing economy?” the analyst emphasized.
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