FINANCE Minister Tito Mboweni says there is a need to trim civil servant perks and stop wastages as the debt to GDP ratio is expected to rise to 71.3 per cent in 2023.
This will include relooking at how much the public service spends on ministerial cars, cellphone benefits and ensuring that everyone – including ministers, the provincial executive and mayors – travel economy class for all domestic flights.
The minister said this when he briefed the media ahead of tabling the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement at the Imbizo Centre on Wednesday.
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“There are a number of risks to the fiscal framework, which this government has to confront head-on. The debt to GDP ratio is beginning to reach unsustainable levels. Once the debt to GDP reaches 60 per cent, we should be concerned. Ideally, it should be 30 per cent or lower. So the debt to GDP ratio is a very serious matter we need to attend to,” Mboweni said.
In the past, ministers used to travel first class with their assistants. This was changed and currently, ministers are eligible to travel business class.
Mboweni said government will stop buying cellphones for public representatives and senior managers in the public service. This area of expenditure will be looked at with a view of forcing public servants to buy their own phones and claim for official calls.
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He said an audit of how much government spends on cellphones currently stood at R5 billion “on a 12 month basis”.
The Minister said National Treasury is looking at ways of capping spend on official cars to R700 000, including VAT.
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