SA's prospects pick up

OUTLOOK: GNU SEEMS TO HAVE REBOOTED ECONOMIC RECOVERY – ANALYST

- Brian Sokutu

With just over a week left for Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana to table the government of national unity's (GNU) first medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS), two leading economists expressed certainty about the market sentiment remaining positive.

They said the MTBPS required a confidence-building fiscal strategy to strengthen SA's political economy.

Despite being upbeat about the outlook, Prof Raymond Parsons of the North-West University Business School and University of Johannesburg economics lecturer Dr Frederich Kirsten said stabilising the overall debt-to-GDP (gross domestic product) ratio remained a challenge.

Parsons said the GNU has created "a great advantage of the reform momentum and now the apparent incipient economic recovery in SA".

"Crucial to the economic outlook will be the GDP growth forecasts that the MTBPS will make over the next three years.