South Africa’s Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said he did not expect any further downgrades for South Africa, but said that if it did happen, he should not be burned at the stake. Mboweni was speaking following his 2020 mid-term budget policy which revealed that the 2021 outlook is more uncertain. He said current forecasts are for the South African economy to grow by 3.3% in 2021, 1.7% in 2022 and 1.5% in 2023. He further emphasised that fiscal measures primarily focusing on reductions to the national government wage bill will narrow the budget deficit and stabilise debt over the next five years to return the public finances to a sustainable position. Another bailout was granted to the ailing state airline South African Airways which has since been met with mixed reactions. Mboweni said that South Africa will take years to get back to pre-Covid GDP levels.
To assist us on this we are joined on the line by:
• Redge Nkosi an executive director at First Source money
• Amanda Fitchen is an economist
