Cape Town – Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has asked Speaker Thandi Modise to postpone next week's Medium-Term Budget Policy statement.
Mboweni was due to deliver the budget speech on Wednesday, but decisions taken by the Cabinet have forced him to ask for a postponement.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is due to table the economic recovery plan in Parliament on Thursday.
Ramaphosa has consulted with his Cabinet on the plan and other social partners at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac).
This follows the devastation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a letter to Parliament, Mboweni asked for a postponement of the mini budget.
Parliament’s spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo, said the programming committee would meet on Thursday to consider Mboweni’s request.
"In his correspondence to the Speaker, Minister Mboweni highlights recent complex decisions taken by Cabinet in respect of the 2020/21 adjusted estimates and the 2021 MTEF (medium-term budget expenditure framework) as well as the time frames for the finalisation of the government's reconstruction and recovery plan on the budget process as reasons necessitating proposed rescheduling," said Mothapo.
The economy has not been doing well since outbreak of Covid-19.
The latest statistics show a decline in jobs with companies closing down.
Political Bureau