Johannesburg - South African Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene is expected to target a budget deficit of 4.4 percent of gross domestic product for the 2014/15 fiscal year in his budget on Wednesday, according to a Reuters poll.
That would be slightly wider than the 4.0 percent gap which Nene's predecessor Pravin Gordhan forecast in the main budget in February.
It would also be bigger than the deficit of 4.0 percent of GDP in fiscal 2013/14 which ended in March.
“We expect a marked deterioration in South Africa's fiscal metrics as anaemic growth translates into weak revenue collections, a widening budget deficit and rising debt levels,” HSBC economist David Faulkner said.
He was one of 19 economists polled on the government's budget outlook for the next four years.
The poll's consensus forecasts are given below.
Nene will have his work cut out to try and reassure disillusioned South Africans that the government still has gas in its tank to pull Africa's most advanced economy out of the doldrums.
He is due to present his medium-term budget at 14:00 SA time on Wednesday. - Reuters