Treasury has no growth plan and 700,000 jobs are gone, EFF says ahead of mid-term budget

The Economic Freedom Fighters expects no relief on fuel prices and no plan for growth when the finance minister delivers the mid-term budget, the party’s representative told eNCA (YouTube) ahead of the address.

In an interview published by the broadcaster on 21 October, the EFF representative argued that National Treasury is “an institution in crisis” with no macroeconomic plan for the country.

The party’s case rests on Treasury’s growth forecasts. It said Treasury projected 1.6% growth for this year and 1.8% for next year, while the International Monetary Fund projects 1% this year and 1% next year. Those forecasts matter, the representative argued, because expenditure is planned on the strength of them, and when they miss, the state turns to taxation and borrowing to cover the gap.

The EFF pointed to output declines in three sectors it described as labour-productive: manufacturing down 1.8%, trade down 1.9% and mining down 3%. It said 700,000 jobs have been lost since the last budget.

On fuel, the representative said consumers and business should not expect intervention in the mid-term speech. The party’s argument is that the fuel levy has become a revenue mechanism, and that any surplus announced in the address would be an accounting result rather than a gain for households, since the money is raised through tax and borrowing rather than through growth.

Debt service, the EFF said, is running at about R400 billion, with the figure rising towards R700 billion as the debt accumulates.

The party also criticised where spending goes, saying public money is not directed where it should be, and that Treasury takes pride in financial-sector profits while that sector is the only one showing growth.

The interview was conducted before the minister’s address, and the EFF said it would respond to the speech afterwards.