Question NW2919 to the Minister of Finance
06 October 2023 - NW2919
Manyi, Mr M to ask the Minister of Finance
What consultation process does the National Treasury undertake before finalising the cost-containment measures to assist national departments, public entities and provinces to close a fiscal gap?
Reply:
Various high-level forums of government have been briefed about the fiscal challenges in the current fiscal year and the need for urgent and difficult measures to be taken to forestall their damaging impact during the course of the financial year. This includes briefings and discussions at Cabinet, the Minister’s Committee on the Budget, the Budget Council, the Forum of South African Directors-General (FOSAD), and the Technical Committee for Finance, which is a committee of Provincial Treasuries. In addition, the National Treasury has publicly highlighted the difficult financial constraints facing government and its implications during a meeting of NEDLAC as well as in the 2024 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) budgeting guidelines, which are published on the website of the National Treasury.
In all of these engagements, the National Treasury emphasized that measures will be required to achieve savings, improve efficiency and contain costs.