TEN PRIORITIES FOR THE 2022 MEDIUM TERM BUDGET POLICY STATEMENT

The Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ) proposes a shift away from fiscal consolidation toward a macroeconomic framework that prioritizes social infrastructure, public services, and a just energy transition. Key recommendations include expanding the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant into a Universal Basic Income Guarantee (UBIG), increasing public infrastructure investment to R900 billion, and restructuring Eskom's R400 billion debt to facilitate renewable energy investment. The IEJ also advocates for progressive taxation, including reversing the Corporate Income Tax reduction and utilizing windfall taxes to fund industrial policy and social protection.

• The IEJ argues that the current approach to fiscal consolidation and debt stabilisation negatively impacts public services and long-term growth, recommending instead a framework that explicitly aims to reduce unemployment, poverty, and inequality through countercyclical fiscal policy and increased investment in labour-intensive sectors.
• To address poverty, the document proposes transitioning the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant into a permanent Universal Basic Income Guarantee (UBIG). It suggests increasing the SRD grant to the Food Poverty Line of R624 per month, eventually moving toward the Upper-Bound Poverty Line, while removing means-test thresholds within two years.
• The IEJ recommends mobilizing resources through progressive taxation, specifically suggesting the reversal of the Corporate Income Tax (CIT) reduction from 28% to 27%, the removal of certain corporate and wealthy individual tax rebates, and the use of windfall taxes to fund development needs.
• To resolve the energy crisis and enable a just energy transition, the document emphasizes the need to address Eskom's R400 billion debt. It proposes either using the Government Employment Pension Fund (GEPF) to refinance the debt or utilizing the USD8.5 billion Just Energy Transition Transaction Partnership (JETTP) climate financing deal alongside a debt swap to a state-owned financial entity.
• The brief calls for significant increases in infrastructure and industrial funding, including a target of R900 billion for public infrastructure investment over the medium term and R10 billion for the Industrial Financing Programme to support manufacturing and sector-specific master plans.

APA

Institute for Economic Justice (2022). TEN PRIORITIES FOR THE 2022 MEDIUM TERM BUDGET POLICY STATEMENT. https://www.iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Ten-priorities-for-the-medium-term-budget-policy-statement.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Economic Justice. TEN PRIORITIES FOR THE 2022 MEDIUM TERM BUDGET POLICY STATEMENT. 2022. https://www.iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Ten-priorities-for-the-medium-term-budget-policy-statement.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Economic Justice |title=TEN PRIORITIES FOR THE 2022 MEDIUM TERM BUDGET POLICY STATEMENT |date=October 2022 |url=https://www.iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Ten-priorities-for-the-medium-term-budget-policy-statement.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforeconomicjustice2022ten, author = {{Institute for Economic Justice}}, title = {{TEN PRIORITIES FOR THE 2022 MEDIUM TERM BUDGET POLICY STATEMENT}}, institution = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2022}, month = oct, url = {https://www.iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Ten-priorities-for-the-medium-term-budget-policy-statement.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }