South Africa
Masondo targets inflated state costs─── 17:00 Fri, 05 Feb 2021
The government is targeting the inflated rates paid for goods and services such as office rentals and car fleet management, as an additional step to squeeze out inefficiencies, says deputy finance minister David Masondo.
The premiums paid by the government on items such as office space have helped drive up public debt and erode service delivery, Masondo wrote in an article on Business Day’s opinion page.
Citing past spending reviews, Masondo said a sample of 1,000 leases showed that 60% were above market rates, with the average premium of about 45%.
Extrapolating to the full lease portfolio, of the R3bn that was being paid to lease office accommodation annually as much as R700m might have been saved if the rents had been at market rates, he said.
Moneyweb
