Funding for GFIP unlikely to come from increased fuel levy – Cronin

Funding for the R20 billion Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) is unlikely to come from an increased fuel levy. This was confirmed by Deputy Transport Minister, Jeremy Cronin, during his plenary speech at the South African Transport Conference (SATC) on Monday in Pretoria. “Many of those objecting to the e-tolling have argued that instead of tolling, the fuel levy should be ring-fenced for road construction and maintenance and not go into the general fiscus,” said Cronin. He said government had several problems with pushing up the fuel levy to finance the project. “National Treasury is in principle opposed to ring-fencing tax revenues. In their view, ring-fencing brings about inefficiencies in government spending over time, as the lack of transparency means that spending agencies lose the accountability of the budget process for how effectively they apply the funds.” Source: BuaNews