DEMOCRACY REPORT - The Mid-Year Budget Review FY2022/23: - The Ship Is Steadied But

Embassy of Finland Windhoek DEMOCRACY REPORT Growth – it will take another year for the economy to return to its pre-Covid size The level of resources available to the Minister of Finance is primarily dependent on the performance of the economy. [...] The Minister expects all major sectors of the economy to grow in 2022 (with the exceptions of Electricity and Water, Construction, and Administrative Support Services) and 2023 but the numbers he presents shows that he believes the economy will only return to its pre-Covid size towards the end of 2023. [...] Zooming out, the big picture is of total spending steadily falling over the course of the updated MTEF from a peak of 40.4% of GDP in FY20/21, the year of Covid, to 35.0% of GDP by the end of the MTEF period in FY24/25. [...] The outer years of the MTEF factor in reduced transfers to public enterprises as a result of governance reforms, including the phased introduction of the State Ownership Policy and the subsequent transformation strategy. [...] The old Ministry of Public Enterprises is due to come under the wing of the Ministry of Finance in the next month or so and it is possible that the latter will have more clout than the former.