Government prioritises investment in transport infrastructure

Government is prioritising investment in transport infrastructure, according to finance minister Pravin Gordhan. Delivering his mediumterm budget policy speech to Parliament, Gordhan said “investment in transport infrastructure and services is the largest category, accounting for R80 billion next year and rising by 8.4% a year over the MTEF (medium term expenditure framework). Spending on rail rolling stock and signalling infrastructure will increase by nearly 20% a year, he said. Government expects to collect 7.6% more in the current financial year – with revenue estimated at R901 billion. In the next financial year, government will absorb 27.5% of GDP, or R986 billion, of which R901 billion is made up of taxes. Total revenue is budgeted to rise to R1.2 trillion in 2015/16. More money and support will be provided at local level to improve the transport infrastructure. The total allocation to provinces next year will be R418 billion, rising to R478 billion in 2015/16. Infrastructure investment for schools, clinics, hospitals, and roads is a key priority in provincial spending plans. “Provinces are called on to modernise their supply chain management systems to deliver projects on time, at the right price and of the required quality. We will channel more funding to provinces that adopt transparent systems and demonstrate their readiness to implement projects effectively,” he said.