Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has assured South Africans that government will not accede to any policy condition imposed by multilateral funders to ensure a loan to the country. Speaking during a virtual dialogue organised by Bloomberg, Mboweni said the country was closer to reaching a deal with the World Bank.
Mboweni says he is challenging any attempt by the World Bank to force South Africa to change its policies in order to receive a loan. The World Bank has asked South Africa to cut the government wage bill as a condition for receiving a 2-billion dollar loan.
Mboweni says the talks are progressing well. “I think we are edging closer to a common understanding, the World Bank country rep in SA has requested a meeting to discuss their approach. What I have resisted is the World Bank’s attempt to impose any policy conditionality on us. There will be no policy prescription for SA and the World Bank now understands that.”
SA’s loans
In July, South Africa received more than R70 billion from the International Monetary Fund. The loan was aimed to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus. This was IMF’s first loan to SA, post-apartheid.
Political parties’ reactions to the loan:
South Africa also received R4.7 billion from the African Development Bank in the same period.
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