Public Finance Matters

If you're new to this blog, these posts give a good idea of its content.

Fiscal policy

UNU-WIDER paper on macroeconomic risks in South Africa 2007-2020

Public finance and tax

ATAF Value Added Tax Audit publication

Public finance and tax

Public Finance and Fiscal Policy in South Africa
28 August 2023

Balancing Probity and Performance: reflecting on regulation in 20 years of democratic local governance in South Africa

One area which has received comparatively little academic and policy attention is the need to balance probity, compliance and the stewardship of public funds and assets in municipalities, on the one hand, with the equally urgent imperative to improve performance of local government in fulfilling its developmental mandate, on the other. The knee-jerk reaction to the rising tide of maladministration […]

Municipal finance
13 March 2022

The Constitutional Court rules on the public sector wage bill during the Covid-19 pandemic

The Constitutional Court judgement handed down in February 2022 is fascinating because it gives those outside government insight into the complexes process of central wage bargaining, which are largely opaque to academia and broader civil society. Given concerns about the rapidly escalating public service wage bill, these collective bargaining dynamics are particularly pertinent from a public policy and fiscal policy […]

Fiscal policy
6 December 2021

Public Finance and Fiscal Policy in South Africa

This is the title of a chapter I wrote for the recently published Oxford Handbook of the South African Economy. This is a very comprehensive publication with 47 chapters covering a wide variety of topics relating to the political economy, the primary sectors, energy, the environment, trade industry, regulation, the labour market, distribution, social policy, and the macroeconomy. In the […]

Public finance and tax
4 December 2021

Report: How transparent is municipal procurement?

This report, released in November 2021 by the Dullah Omar Institute and International Budget Project, surveyed transparency in procurement in 49 South African municipalities. The key findings of the report include: A comparison of the 2020 and 2021 survey results shows that the lack of transparency in municipal procurement has not improved. In fact, it has worsened in some respects. […]

Municipal finance
28 November 2021

Performance of the Parliamentary Service in Supporting Effective Legislative Oversight in South Africa

This article entitled “Future-proofing the State against Corruption and Capture:  the Performance of the Parliamentary Service in Supporting Effective Legislative Oversight in South Africa” was published in Administratio Publica in 2020. ABSTRACT The Parliament of South Africa (POSA) was singularly incapable of successfully discharging its constitutional obligation to hold the Executive accountable during the Zuma administration from 2009 to 2017. […]

Legislative oversight
28 November 2021

COVID-19 impact on the South African economy

This video features an animated mind map which analyses the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the South African economy. It was produced for the 2021 Public Economic Winter School which was hosted by GTAC (the Government Technical Assistance Centre) in August 2021. It was fun working with an animator for the first time. Videos like these are a great […]

SA Economy
28 November 2021

COVID-19 timeline animation

I collaborated with the GTAC (Government Technical Assistance Centre) in the National Treasury to create this little video of the timeline of corona virus pandemic from its inception in South Africa around March 2020 to August 2021, for the 2021 GTAC Public Economics Winter School. Enjoy!

SA Economy
13 March 2022

UNU-WIDER paper on macroeconomic risks in South Africa 2007-2020

The paper entitled Macroeconomic Risks after a Decade of Microeconomic Turbulence by Ricardo Hausmann, Federico Sturzenegger, Patricio Goldstein, Frank Muci, and Douglas Barrios was published in January 2022. To access the paper, please click here. Hausman et al (2022) point out that empirical estimates of fiscal multipliers in South Africa have varied markedly, Fiscal multipliers measure the impact of increased […]

Fiscal policy
13 December 2021

ATAF Value Added Tax Audit publication

This publication Value-Added Tax (VAT) Audit: Summary of Considerations and Activities by the African Tax Administrator’s Forum (ATAF) Tax Programmes Department observes that proper planning and execution of VAT audits are likely to increase VAT revenue collections. ATAF defines a VAT audit as “a planned and documented activityperformed by tax officials to determine through in-depth review and examination:a. the adequacy […]

Public finance and tax
13 December 2021

The District Development Model Conundrum by Gundo Maswime

In an article published in IMIESA on 25 November 2021, Maswine (2021) asserts that lessons learnt 3 pilot sites of the District Development Model could contribute to the success of the model. Maswine contends that the DDM is attempting to overcome challenges emanating from two structural features of the South Africa constitution: its objective of citizen participation in local government […]

Intergovernmental fiscal relations

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