President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for a joint sitting of Parliament on Thursday to discuss ‘extraordinary measures towards a speedy and sustainable economic recovery’.
This comes in the wake of indications that the economy, devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic and heavily restrictive measures to combat the spread of infection, is set to contract anywhere between 7% and 13% this year.
The National Treasury has indicated that the deficit is likely to widen to about 14%, with debt rising to 81%. It has forecast that 3 million people will lose their jobs.
Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has said the debt was unsustainable and for any country to be able to survive it would have to have a debt of around 30% of GDP.
It is anticipated that Ramaphosa will spell out details of the economic recovery plan agreed to by the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) last month.
The joint sitting is a week before Finance Minister Tito Mboweni is expected to deliver his medium-term budget, which he has warned will not be popular.
The Presidency announced on Friday that Ramaphosa had written to Speaker Thandi Modise and National Council of Provinces chairperson Amos Masondo to request the joint sitting, saying: ‘We need to take extraordinary measures towards a speedy and sustainable economic recovery.’