Budget speech to focus on Eskom: economist
An economist says financing Eskom will be the one topic South Africans want to hear about during the 2019 Budget Speech.
"I don't think they have much margin to do anything else. They are in a very tight position. The economy has been under a lot of pressure. In the end, there won't be anything concrete to talk about other than how they're going to finance Eskom," said Sasfin Securities' David Shapiro.
Shapiro has been speaking to Newswatch ahead of Finance Minister Tito Mboweni's budget speech in Parliament this afternoon.
Shapiro says the only real area of interest this year is Eskom.
"At the back of all of this is the worry that if they increase their debt - in other words if they increase borrowings - the rating agencies are going to come down on them. I don't think they have any alternatives. I don't know what they can pull out of the hat in order to alleviate that problem. How they intend to fund Eskom is going to be what everyone is waiting for."
President Cyril Ramaphosa of course announced during his State of the Nation Address earlier this month that the utility will be split into three separate entities.
READ: Analyst: 'Eskom woes won't impact elections'
Mboweni will breakdown the country's key spending areas from 2pm.
