The government spends about R1,7-billion a day to service debt

The government's R6-trillion debt and the amount of funds National Treasury allocates to infrastructure projects will come under scrutiny when finance minister Enoch Godongwana delivers the 2026 Budget Speech on Wednesday.

- By Mpho Sibanyoni

Economists who spoke to Sunday World on Friday believe that the government needs to find a way of reprioritising spending to stimulate economic growth by aggressively pumping more funds towards infrastructure projects that would result in job creation.

Godongwana last year announced a R1-trillion infrastructure budget over the medium term.

The government's debt-service costs currently amount to R426.3-billion, the single largest government expenditure item, per annum.

This means the government spends about R1.7-billion a day towards servicing debt.

Economist Duma Gqubule said the high debt service costs and low infrastructure expenditure would continue to serve as an economic growth hurdle should government not change its expenditure patterns.