President Jacob Zuma has directed the Minister of Finance, Malusi Gigaba, to trim down expenses and increase revenue in order to find a solution to the R40 billion gap identified in the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe President [and] Cabinet have reaffirmed government’s commitment to maintain a sustainable fiscal framework and ensure that a solution is found to address the roughly R40 billion gap that has been identified, through a combination of expenditure reductions and revenue-enhancing measures,\u201d said the Presidency in a statement.<\/p>\n
The Presidency on Monday released a statement on the measures being taken to address economic challenges after Standard & Poor\u2019s lowered South Africa\u2019s long term foreign and local currency debt ratings by one notch each to \u2018BB\u2019 and \u2018BB+\u2019 on Friday.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, Moody\u2019s gave South Africa some reprieve by maintaining the country\u2019s credit rating above junk at Baa3. The ratings agency placed South Africa\u2019s long-term foreign and local currency debt ratings of \u2018Baa3\u2019 on a 90-day review for a downgrade.<\/p>\n
The Presidency on Tuesday said the Finance Minister will be assisted by the Presidential Fiscal Committee to find solutions to the challenges.<\/p>\n
President Zuma has directed that technical discussions of the Presidential Fiscal Committee take place, led by Minister Gigaba and National Treasury. These discussions will focus on four areas, which are:<\/p>\n
The President has directed that the contents of these discussions should be considered for preparations of the 2018 Budget.<\/p>\n
President Zuma will in the coming days meet with the Presidential Fiscal Committee to receive a progress report on the work done on the above.<\/p>\n