South Africa Granted R14.5 Billion Loan From BRICS to Help Economy Recover
- South Africa is set to get some serious cash to help the economy recover from the ravages of Covid-19
- The New Development Bank (NDB) will pay grant the loan to South Africa as part of President Cyril Ramaphosa's first phase of his Employment Stimulus
- This is the second loan South Africa has received, in 2020 the NDB granted South Africa an emergency loan valued at R14.5 billion
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An injection of R14.5 billion ($1 billion) from the New Development Bank (NDB) to help South Africa recover from the effects of Covid-19.
The NDB released a statement on Thursday explaining that the loan is intended to help South Africa get back on its feet economically after national lockdowns and international travel bans have wreaked havoc on the South African economy.
The bank consists of the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and it is a financial institution established by the group.
Source: UGC
This loan is part of President Cyril Ramaphosa's first phase of his Employment Stimulus which is aimed at developing employment opportunities.
This is South Africa's second loan, the country received R14.5 billion in June 2020 as an emergency loan in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Earlier, Briefly News, reported that the South African Revenue Services (SARS) has exceeded the revenue collection target set in February last year. The original target of R1.21 trillion was exceeded by R38 billion by 31 March.
The National Treasury first set the target at R1.425 trillion before Covid-19 impacted the economy in March last year. The target was revised down to R1.112 trillion in October before being increased to R1.212 trillion in this year's budget, delivered in February.
During the financial period, a total of R63 billion has been collected. This total includes R12 billion from large businesses and R16 billion from provisional taxpayers.
In other news, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni's budget speech touched on various topics including fuel levies, excise tax and social grants
Mboweni also touched on the South African Revenue Services. According to the Minister of Finance, SARS will be improving its technology, data and machine learning capabilities in this financial year.
SARS will also reportedly be expanding specialised audit and investigative skills in the tax and customs areas. This is a big step for the revenue service and SA as a whole.
In terms of corruption involving SARS, Mboweni said the Justice and Constitutional Development department has been allocated R1.8 billion to improve business processes to support law enforcement to fight crime and corruption.
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Source: Briefly News
