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A breakdown of the Budget Speech 2020 in bite-sized chunks.
Image via Adobe Stock
The Budget Speech is behind us. No blood spilt and no points of order to write home about. Some even went so far as to describe the speech as ‘bleak’. Spoiler alert, it wasn’t Julius Malema.
To be honest, we expected a bit more from this year’s budget’s speech, something a bit more substantial, but it is what it is. If you missed the delivery, we’ve collected all the important figures in one place.
Read more here: Budget Speech bailouts: Mboweni throws SAA a R16.4 billion bone, and also: Tito Mboweni backs Eskom alternative.
Finance Minister Tito Mboweni also highlighted that education and health will be treated as a priority. To that effect, government will increase spending on schools and health care. Mboweni said:
“The largest spending areas will be learning and culture, which receives R396 billion, followed by health with R230 billion, and social development with R310 billion.”
About R212 billion was set aside for economic development, which includes industrialisation and exports, agriculture and rural development, job creation and labour affairs, and science and technology.
Furthermore, R217 billion will go towards peace and security: Police services will be granted R106 billion, while the remaining funds will be allocated between defence and state security, as well as law courts, prison and home affairs.
Read more here: Budget Speech 2020: Increased spending on education and health
Concerningly, debt-service costs remain one of the largest cost items in the budget with the government allocating R227 billion to servicing debt.
In context, the government will be spending virtually the same amount on servicing debts as it will on health care spending, and will spend R10 billion less on peace and security than it will on debt service costs.
Learning and Culture, Health and Social development will make up just under 48% of the budgeted expenditure for the new year with Community development, Peace and Security and Economic development, making up nearly 33%.
Debt service costs will represent nearly 12% of the total budgeted expenditure for 2020/21.
The complete infographic can be viewed here.
Also read – Budget Speech 2020: The good, the bad and the ugly in 12 quotes