Why South Africa needs a fiscal rule

Its value might just be symbolic, but with the government facing massive spending pressure, the Treasury needs all the help it can get

​Its value might just be symbolic, but with the government facing massive spending pressure, the Treasury needs all the help it can get   

Fiscal consolidation has become something of a swear word in South Africa. It has dominated almost every budget over the past decade, but despite real spending cuts and increasing wage restraint, the goal of debt stabilisation has kept being pushed out. 

In fact, though the National Treasury has set expenditure ceilings since 2012 that have significantly slowed expenditure growth, the debt-to-GDP ratio has kept rising.  Today, at close to 75%, it has reached its highest level ever in peacetime. ..

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