CAPE TOWN: The South African government raised taxes and scaled back spending plans in its annual budget on Wednesday as Africa’s most developed economy wrestles with stalling growth, rising debt, power blackouts and rampant unemployment.
Projected economic growth for 2015 is just 2pc, down from 2.5pc forecast in October last year, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene told parliament.
Growth in 2014 was 1.5pc, dragged down by prolonged labour strikes in the key mining sector, prompting Nene to warn recently that the economy was “at a turning point”.
The growth rate is far below the 6 to 7pc many economists believe South Africa needs to provide jobs for millions in a country where one in four people is unemployed.
The most important challenges are unemployment and the security and reliability of the energy supply from the troubled state-owned provider, said Nene.
Published in Dawn February 26th , 2015
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