Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana recently presented South Africa's (SA) revised 2025 budget, proposing a phased increase in the Value-Added Tax (VAT) rate by one percentage point over two years.
This decision follows a postponement of the budget announcement last month due to disagreements within the Government of National Unity (GNU) regarding an initially proposed two percentage point VAT hike. The revised plan includes a 0.5% increase effective May 1, 2025, with an additional 0.5 percentage point hike scheduled for April 2026, raising the VAT rate to 16% by 2026/27.
To provide further insights into the implications of this budget, Peter Ndoro spoke to Dr. Azar Jammine, Director and Chief Economist at Econometrix.