PEP releases evidence-based report on budget spending choices
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The Public Economy Project has offered an independent appraisal of expenditure choices implied by the South African 2022 budget.
In anticipation of the next budget cycle, the Public Economy Project (PEP) at SCIS held a seminar titled: Spending choices in Budget 2022, aimed at raising the quality of debate by offering an independent appraisal of expenditure choices implied by the 2022 budget.
In a democratic society, public deliberation informs the allocation of public resources. The budget is a process of political decision-making and the debate is often marked by debates founded on ideological differences. South Africa is a world leader in budget transparency, and a wealth of budget data is publicly available. Although the South African government is transparent with numbers, the narrative built around these numbers and their presentation are inevitably partial, while the capacity of legislatures and civil society to analyse and engage with budget data is limited.
The PEP report presents National Treasury budget data in a form that is accessible and policy-relevant, and an analysis that is balanced and grounded in evidence.
The PEP event took on a hybrid format occurring both online and in-person at the Wits Parktown Management Campus. In attendance were budget and other National Treasury officials, researchers from various institutions, colleagues from SCIS and other informed members of the public.