120 Economists and Researchers Say The Supplementary Budget Reneges on the President’s COVID-19 Rescue Package

The document argues that the 24 June 2020 Supplementary Budget reneges on the promised R500 billion COVID-19 rescue package by providing only a net increase of R36 billion in non-interest spending. The authors contend that the budget relies on reprioritising existing funds, leading to dangerous cuts in basic education, higher education, transport, and energy, while failing to provide adequate support for social security, job creation, and health. They recommend the budget's rejection in favour of counter-cyclical measures financed through solidarity taxation, increased borrowing, and reserve bank action.

• The Supplementary Budget fails to deliver the promised R500 billion rescue package, providing a net increase to non-interest spending of only R36 billion for the current year. Of the R145 billion targeted for COVID-19, R109 billion is sourced from reprioritisations and the suspension of baseline allocations.
• The budget significantly underfunds key rescue areas: social grants received R41 billion (with only R25 billion in new spend) against a promised R50 billion; job protection received only 6% of the promised R100 billion for 2020/21; and health received only R2.9 billion in net new funds.
• The budget reduces planned expenditure by R230 billion over two years, which the authors describe as a violation of the rescue package's spirit and a failure to implement counter-cyclical measures during the crisis.
• Substantial cuts were made to critical sectors to fund COVID-19 expenses, including R10 billion from higher education and training, R4.6 billion from transport, R2.1 billion from basic education (plus R4.4 billion reallocated), and R1.5 billion from the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy.
• Existing support mechanisms are deemed inadequate: less than 30% of the workforce has been supported by the Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) despite 60% of its budget being used, and only R10 billion of the R200 billion credit guarantee scheme has been accessed.
• The authors propose alternative financing for a more robust rescue package, suggesting a combination of reserve bank action, increased borrowing, mobilising domestic quasi-public funds, and solidarity taxation.

APA

Institute for Economic Justice (2020). 120 Economists and Researchers Say The Supplementary Budget Reneges on the President’s COVID-19 Rescue Package. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Submission-to-Finance-Comm-Economists.docx-1.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Economic Justice. 120 Economists and Researchers Say The Supplementary Budget Reneges on the President’s COVID-19 Rescue Package. 2020. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Submission-to-Finance-Comm-Economists.docx-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Institute for Economic Justice |title=120 Economists and Researchers Say The Supplementary Budget Reneges on the President’s COVID-19 Rescue Package |date=30 June 2020 |url=https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Submission-to-Finance-Comm-Economists.docx-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{instituteforeconomicjustice2020120, author = {{Institute for Economic Justice}}, title = {{120 Economists and Researchers Say The Supplementary Budget Reneges on the President’s COVID-19 Rescue Package}}, publisher = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2020}, month = jun, url = {https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Submission-to-Finance-Comm-Economists.docx-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }