South Africa's National Treasury
South Africa's National Treasury seeks to advance economic growth and job creation through appropriate macro-economic, fiscal and financial policies. Other objectives include:- Preparing a fiscally sustainable national budget.
- Ensuring an equitable division of resources between national, provincial and local government.
- Raising the revenue required by the fiscus efficiently and equitably.
- Managing the state's financial assets and liabilities soundly.
- Promote accountability through effective, reliable financial reporting systems and internal controls.
Managing government expenditureThe National Treasury plays a pivotal role in the management of government expenditure, setting financial management norms and standards for state departments, monitoring their performance and reporting any deviations to the auditor-general.
The Treasury also acts as a banker for national government departments; sets and maintains treasury norms and standards to ensure transparency and expenditure control in each sphere of government; and oversees logistical control of stocks and assets.
The Treasury supports the government's macro-economic policy by determining macro limits on expenditure by departments, in line with affordability and sustainability of services. These limits guide and are matched with departments' budget proposals for the following financial year.
Major financial reforms
Since 1994, the structure and organisation of South Africa's public finances have undergone several major reforms, including:
- The introduction of a three-year medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF). This has brought greater transparency and certainty to the budget process, and strengthened the links between
policy priorities and the government's longer-term spending plans.
- The establishment of a statutory Budget Council and several technical committees to oversee budgetary and financial co-operation between national, provincial and local government.
- The establishment of the Financial and Fiscal Commission, an independent body that reviews and advises on intergovernmental financial relations.
- The creation of the South African Revenue Service as an autonomous agency. As part of this, South Africa's tax administration has been overhauled, information systems modernised, and audit and debt recovery capacity reinforced.
