Mboweni revealed this in his Medium-term budget tabled before parliament on Wednesday afternoon. Shortly before Mboweni addressed parliament, OFM News spoke to veteran economist, Mike Schussler, regarding concerns over the rate at which the budget deficit is decreasing as well as questions probing from where the government is lending money to make up for this deficit. The Finance Minister speaks on this in his address.

“We are also borrowing at favourable rates from international financial institutions. Yes from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), yes from the African Development Bank, Yes from the Brics Bank. There is no underground borrowing here, it’s all in the open,” quips Mboweni.
 
The state’s soaring wage bill has been identified as a thorn in the government’s side, with Mboweni revealing that over the past five years, public sector employee compensation increased by 7.2 per cent a year on average. This is well above inflation. 

He says the private sector has in light of the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdown made sacrifices, but the same cannot be said regarding government but cautions that things need to change in the next five years. 

“The Minister for the Public Service and Administration and the leadership of the public service unions are meeting to discuss how best we adapt to the reality that we must do more with less, and that we are all in this together,” said Mboweni.

South Africa shed 2,2 million jobs during the pandemic quarter.

OFM News