Mboweni will present a much lower economic-growth forecast than in February. Since the start of the year, the International Monetary Fund, the Reserve Bank and the World Bank have all cut their projections for 2019 as rolling blackouts and poor investor sentiment due to policy uncertainty weigh on output.<\/p>\n Growing Deficit<\/strong><\/p>\n The budget deficit will probably widen to the biggest since the financial crisis as provisions for Eskom, the public broadcaster and national airline sap resources and revenue misses projections.<\/p>\n Economists in a Bloomberg survey forecast a gap of 6.1% of gross domestic product for this year compared with the Treasury\u2019s estimate of 4.5% given in February.<\/p>\n Debt Burden<\/strong><\/p>\n The Treasury presented higher government-debt estimates in February than it did last October, and will probably raise its forecasts again after lawmakers last week approved a law that allocates a R59 billion ($4 billion) bailout to Eskom in addition to a R69 billion lifeline outlined in February.<\/p>\n If the government takes some of the utility\u2019s debt onto its balance sheet, the ratio of debt to GDP could surge to more than 70%.<\/p>\n Eskom Debt<\/strong><\/p>\n Mboweni\u2019s medium-term budget should detail plans to fund the R128 billion, three-year package for Eskom – the utility that\u2019s seen as the biggest risk to the economy and takes up the lion\u2019s share of government guaranteed debt.<\/p>\n It has amassed debt of R450 billion and wants the government to transfer the borrowing it has guaranteed onto the state\u2019s balance sheet.<\/p>\n More Borrowing<\/strong><\/p>\n The financial burden of highly indebted state-owned companies could drive up borrowing requirements. The government announced plans to raise the equivalent of $2 billion on international capital markets in the February review and ended up selling $5 billion in its biggest Eurobond sale to date in September.<\/p>\n Part of that, though, was to make up for not raising budgeted-for funds in foreign markets the previous year.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Economy1.jpg\")
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