KZN economy not reaching potential, MEC says
KwaZulu-Natal Finance MEC Francois Rodgers told the provincial legislature on Tuesday that the province’s economic growth remains considerably below its potential.
Rodgers tabled his mid-term budget adjustment in the legislature.
"At these growth rates, the provincial economy remains considerably below its potential, especially compared to an annual average growth rate of 4.2% observed between 2001 and 2006, prior to the global financial crisis.
"The real regional gross domestic product has declined from 1.1% in 2023 to an estimated 0.9% this year, with an anticipated expansion to 2% in 2025. "
He announced that the National Treasury made no amendments to the provincial budget with the exception of the rollover of unspent conditional grant funding.
Unspent conditional grant funding relating to the previous financial year must be returned to the national fiscus unless approved for rollover.
The province recorded an audited under-spending of R263.7 million at the end of 2023/24 against a budget of R25.6 billion, having spent 99 per cent of the conditional grant budget by year-end.
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Unspent conditional grant funding relating to the previous financial year must be returned to the national fiscus unless approved for rollover.
The province recorded an audited under-spending of R263.7 million at the end of 2023/24 against a budget of R25.6 billion, having spent 99 per cent of the conditional grant budget by year-end.
It comes after his announcement in the Main budget in August that KZN will have to cut its budget by R12 billion over the next three years.
Rodgers says sluggish economic growth and wasteful expenditure have placed the province in a difficult position.
He says unemployment remains a major challenge in the province.
"The official unemployment rate in KZN remains elevated at 31.2%, implying that approximately 1.287 million people are without employment in the province,” Rodgers told MPLs.
“It is our collective responsibility to make every effort to grow the economy and to facilitate investments that will create jobs in our province.”
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