|
Introduction
Honourable Members of the Joint Budget Committee, the People's Budget Campaign (PBC) appreciates the opportunity to share its perspective and recommendations on the 2005 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS). The PBC comprises three mass based organisations, which are the South African NGO Coalition (SANGOCO), the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Council of Churches (SACC). It represents the three key pillars of civil society, namely the church community, non-governmental organisations, and trade unions. To date, this is our sixth submission on the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement, since 2000. Our organisations have worked together to develop common perspectives on national budget issues of concern to our respective constituencies, and we remain committed to expressing these perspectives jointly.
Accompanying the Submission, is a detailed 59 page document entitled "People's Budget 2006-2007 - Proposals from COSATU, SANGOCO and SACC," published by the National Labour and Economic Development Institute (NALEDI) in February 2005, just before the tabling of the 2005 National Budget by the National Treasury. It contained detailed motivations, summaries of commissioned research regarding our proposals. It may therefore be useful to Members of the Committee to examine this publication as a reference, if further motivations for our proposals are necessary. In any event, we would be keen to answer these after our oral presentation.
The People's Budget Campaign evaluates the budget above all in terms of its impact on poverty and unemployment. Moreover, we have tabled our proposals for a more effective fiscal policy earlier in the year for the consideration of government, business and other stakeholders. We assert again that growth and equity are complimentary and inextricably linked, and we demand that emphasis on objectives in both areas be provided. We once again table our proposals for the 2006/7 financial year with your Committee, and have again forwarded a copy to the National Treasury.
Our response is divided into six sections. These are:
-
Building a developmental partnership
-
Shared economic growth
-
Revenue trends
-
Expenditure trends
-
Claims on employment gains
-
Reclaiming redistribution
|
|
Related documents
- 104Kb ~ 1 min (20 pages)
