The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it will be interesting to see how Finance Minister Tito Mboweni will finance Eskom while maintaining fiscal discipline.
Mboweni is expected to deliver his maiden Budget Speech in Parliament on Wednesday.
DA spokesperson on Finance Alf Lees says Mboweni has very limited room for manoeuvre.
“Nothing is more of a threat to the SA economy than Eskom right now. There’s nothing and so, that is going to be the key thing that Mboweni has to deal with. We’ve listed a long list of possible steps that we think should be taken with Eskom in order to minimise the cost to the taxpayer.”
Lees says he also expects the SAA and the SABC to feature in the Budget Speech.
“So, whilst we expect Eskom to be the centre stage, we won’t see SAA and SABC being ignored. They are both going to be dealt with, because there is no political will to do the right thing with either.”
While Mboweni is stuck between a rock and a hard place in his effort to find money to fund Eskom, the African National Congress believes that he must not cut pro-poor programmes.
Where will the money come from?
The financial assistance to Eskom is expected to take centre stage when Finance Minister Tito Mboweni tables this year’s national budget in the National Assembly on Wednesday.
The question is – where will the money come from, considering that the national fiscus is already under pressure.
Experts believe that there’s no escaping government having to bail out Eskom again. However Rashaad Amra from the Parliamentary Budget Office says if government fails to make space within the current allocation, the national debt will grow further.
“What we have to look out for is whether the fiscal pressures emanating from Eskom’s financial situation have an impact on the expenditure ceiling and if government attempt to maintain or maintaining the expenditure ceiling where will the additional resources come from.”
What do you want from Finance Minister #TitoMboweni's #Budget2019 on Wednesday?
— SABC News (@SABCNews) February 19, 2019
