Tag: Medium Term Budget Policy statement (MTBPS)

The 2021 Budget was tabled to Parliament on 24 February 2021 by South African Finance Minister Tito Mboweni.

Last year’s Budget Speech was delivered in front of a full house in the National Assembly. Politicians, journalists and special guests mingled before and after the speech. There were hugs, handshakes and back slaps aplenty. Next week’s version takes place in a world that has completely changed.

The Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni, delivered his much anticipated Medium-term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) on Wednesday, 28 October 2020. Hard choices and reform implementation are key to achieving five-year stabilisation plan.

The captain of Ship SA, President Cyril Ramaphosa, can surely see the iceberg that we are heading for and one can almost hear the call go out for us to 'brace for impact'. The iceberg is an economy that is in crisis – an unemployment rate of 42% (using the expanded definition), GDP growth projections down by 7.8%, tax revenue projections at R304 billion less than originally budgeted for, a budget deficit of R709 billion for 2020/21, a current debt to GPD level of 81.8% and debt service costs (interest) currently amounting to 21c in every tax Rand collected.

The June Supplementary Budget had already made it clear that South Africa was in a dire financial state. So, from that perspective, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) offered very little in the way of surprises.

The Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) 2020 was tabled to Parliament on 28 October 2020 by South African Finance Minister Tito Mboweni.

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni delivered his Supplementary Budget Speech 2020 to (a virtual) Parliament on June 24. Against the backdrop of a pandemic and deepening economic recession, the minister released adjustments to the February budget numbers, also promising a second round of adjustments in October alongside the Medium‐Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS).

Sparking an immediate celebration in the rand and bond markets, the 2020 Budget Speech ticked all the right boxes for markets, depicting a government that is reform-minded and ready to show its muscles.

Budget statements have in recent years perennially made downward revisions in economic growth projections. Disappointing growth outcomes compared to official forecasts is partly attributed to the inability to implement planned structural reforms that would have delivered improved growth outcomes.

The Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) 2019 was tabled to Parliament on 30 October 2019 by South African Finance Minister Tito Mboweni.