Gordhan’s budget good for small business

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.(SABC)

Tags:

• Matthew Lester
• Rhodes University
• Budget
• Pravin Gordhan
• Small Business
• Sanlam
• Deficit

Professor Matthew Lester from Rhodes University says the current budget of R1 trillion that Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan announced recently is good for small business entrepreneurs. Lester has been delivering a speech at a seminar organised by Sanlam in Durban on how the 2012/13 budget may affect small businesses.

The seminar also had an opportunity to see the launch of the small business entrepreneur of the year competition to be held in Johannesburg later this year. The competition is to motivate entrepreneurs to grow economically thus creating much-need job opportunities countrywide.

Lester says the budget did not contain a lot of additional packages. "This year's budget was about finding a way that 50 million South Africans can live on multi-millions a year. It did not contain a lot of additional packages and support for small business - but those packages already exist. They are in the Acts already. Tax is not a problem facing small business today."

Late last month, the finance minister delivered the third budget of President Jacob Zuma’s administration. Gordhan announced a budget deficit of 4.6% of GDP is projected in 2012/13 with plans to reduce the deficit to 3% of GDP in 2014/15.