Pretoria - Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan will this afternoon present the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) before Parliament.
The statement comes hot on the heels of the announcement by Cabinet yesterday of a new growth path for the South African economy. The new economic growth path intends to address crippling unemployment, inequality and poverty through unlocking employment opportunities in the private sector.
Commenting on the mini budget, Investment Solutions senior economist Chris Hart said the important issue was how to get higher growth. "It will be interesting to see what comes out," he said of the 2pm tabling of the MTBPS.
Minister Gordhan had earlier said the actual growth of the economy for 2010 could be higher than the forecast in the budget.
Other issues of importance include the strength of the rand, which rose to one of its highest levels last week at R6.76 to the Dollar. Government finances were likely to have improved, with tax returns going back to the South African Revenue Services quicker.
Nedbank economist Isaac Matshego expects an announcement in relation to exchange controls.
Standard Bank senior economist Dr Johan Botha said: "I don't think [there will be] major decisions but we can expect to see that the deficit will come down based on solid revenue flows to date this year. There might also be removal of exchange restrictions that remain".
