Firstly I think Cyril Ramaphosa may have played it real smart by letting Malusi Gigaba deliver the budget. He can now spend the next year claiming it was not his budget but a Zuma legacy budget.
Overall not the train smash expected but still lots of tax increases with R36billion of extra tax. Lots of cuts to spending, R86billion over three years and which has to actually happen.
GDP growth 1.5% in 2018 and rising to 2.1% in 2020. I hope they are very wrong on this.
No changes to;
No Nuclear.
Retirement funds will be allowed to invest up to 40% outside of SA - 30% "offshore" and another 10% elsewhere in Africa.
JSE added 1.25% during the speech, USDZAR 8c and government bonds back at 8%, bond levels last seen three years ago.
For our investments. Consumers being taxed, no surprise. But with inflation dropping leading to prime rate likely heading lower I still like the SA Inc. investment thesis.
Overall - a good balancing act albeit still a tough budget. But could have been much worse and I think Moodys will not downgrade us on the back of it.
JSE – The JSE is a registered trademark of the JSE Limited.
JSEDirect is an independent broadcast and is not endorsed or affiliated with, nor has it been authorised, or otherwise approved by JSE Limited. The views expressed in this programme are solely those of the presenter, and do not necessarily reflect the views of JSE Limited.