South Africa, already struggling with low economic growth and high debt-servicing costs, is planning to cut state spending, borrow more and raise taxes to compensate for a drop in revenue and increased expenditure.
"This policy statement sets out our strategy for avoiding a fiscal crisis and preventing the build-up of systemic risks to the economy," Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said in his medium-term budget address to Parliament on Wednesday.
"The lived experiences of many South Africans do not reflect our development ideals. Rising debt services costs are crowding out important social spending, and our economy has not grown fast enough to support increasing expenditure or our current debt levels."