Mboweni to table special budget to cover Covid-19 spending and 'significant revenue losses'

Finance minister Tito Mboweni will table a special budget on June 24, taking into account the country's spending on the Covid-19 disaster - and also “significant economic losses”.

In directions published on Wednesday, the Treasury sates that the “special adjustments budget” will modify the country's 2020/21 budget “to provide for the rapidly changing economic conditions and enable spending on the Covid-19 response”.

“A revised fiscal framework will also be presented, to account for substantial revenue losses emanating from the economic shock of the pandemic and subsequent lockdown,” the 2020 guidelines document states.

In the document, the Treasury says the government had to “act swiftly to minimise the economic impact of the pandemic”, which meant that resources had to be redirected.

“On April 21 2020 the president [Cyril Ramaphosa] announced a R500bn fiscal support package that includes spending towards Covid-19 priorities. On April 30, the National Treasury published 'economic measures for Covid-19', outlining a R500bn response, as well as identifying the funding sources for the package.

“Part of the funding sources for this package is a R130bn baseline reprioritisation in the 2020/21 financial year,” the document states.

The process of the budget adjustment started on May 13, the document says, with the budget to be tabled in parliament on June 24.