Finance chief Godongwana outlines fiscal limits, reforms to SA’s GNU

South Africa's Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana outlined fiscal parameters in a closed-door meeting with the newly formed coalition government, including 11 opposition parties, to address issues like economic reform, power shortages, and social security. President Ramaphosa will present policy priorities in parliament, amid internal party differences and upcoming monetary policy decisions..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here..Join us for BizNews' first investment-focused conference on Thursday, 12 September, in Hermanus, featuring top experts like Frans Cronje, Piet Viljoen, and more. Get insights on electricity and exploiting SA's gas bounty from new and familiar faces. Register here..By S'thembile Cele.South Africa's Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana outlined the nation's fiscal parameters as the newly formed coalition government gathered for the first time in a closed-door meeting to map out priority areas from economic reform to investment. .___STEADY_PAYWALL___.President Cyril Ramaphosa convened the first Cabinet Lekgotla meeting of the government of national unity (GNU) following his party's May 29 electoral defeat. His executive, which now includes 11 opposition parties, has been meeting in the capital, Pretoria, to formulate policy priorities which he will outline during the opening of parliament on Thursday..Godongwana on Saturday made a presentation in which he outlined the fiscal parameters the cabinet will have to consider as it looks to tackle the nation's multiple crises, including poor state governance, power shortages and logistics snarl-ups that have hobbled economic growth..The expansion of the social security net is likely to be one of a number of critical areas that the executive will wrestle with over the next two days, along with the future of state-owned companies, funding to procure nuclear power and the implementation of a controversial national health insurance plan..Ramaphosa Keeps South Africa Presidency After Election Shock (2)."The GNU is up and alive and working. We are working very hard here," Ramaphosa said on the sidelines of the meeting. "People are contributing, everyone is talking, so it is a great start to the GNU." .The president's opening-of-parliament address will come hours after South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago is set to announce the monetary policy committee's interest decision, expected to to be a 25 basis-point cut amid further signs of disinflation in the US and globally..Read more: Foreigners Buy South African Bonds at a Rate Not Seen in Years.On the eve of the election, the ANC announced a commitment to finalizing a policy on a basic income grant within two years of returning to power. The Treasury has repeatedly outlined fiscal constraints that make the grant difficult to roll out. .The ANC and its political associates will have to set aside their differences and policy preferences to agree on a common plan which Ramaphosa will present in the coming days. .Ministers from the second largest party, the Democratic Alliance, have already ruffled feathers by communicating positions yet to be signed off by the cabinet and seeking to distinguish themselves from the other parties in the pact. Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, warned that decisions were taken by members of cabinet and not members of parties.."We are going to implement government priorities collectively because there is no DA or ANC minister," she said. "There is a minister of government, and that is what is important. As we deal with issues today, that is what we are consolidating so that we can have a single view and a single program of action that is agreed by all.".Read also:.Highlights from Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana's budget speechIn full: Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana's budget speechBizNews Top of the Pops June 2024.© 2024 Bloomberg L.P.

Finance chief Godongwana outlines fiscal limits, reforms to SA’s GNU

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