Many words were used to describe the budget. They include “balanced”, “difficult but fair”, “understandable”, “conservative” (a major bank), “the price of the Zuma-years” (an analyst), “we had no option”, “balanced act under circumstances” (SACCI), “inevitable and enough to prevent a downgrade” (Raymond Parsons and PwC), “stabilise debt” (a journalist), “necessary bitter pill” (OUTA), “tough but hopeful” (the minister himself).No. It was far worse than that, says Dawie Roodt, chief economist at The Efficient Group.

A summary of some of the key highights from Finance Minister Gigaba's Budget speech today.

A possible increase in VAT, fuel levies and allowing income tax brackets to remain as they are - a way for government to increase revenue by not adjusting these brackets for inflation - are some of the things to expect in the upcoming budget. Also expect to hear if government will start selling off State-owned assets such as Telkom to generate further revenue. Treasury will also outline how it intends to fund free university education for the poor, according to this report from FNB's Economics Department.

Finance minister Malusi Gigaba's medium term budget is bereft of ideas. In the words of former UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher, the problem with socialism is you eventually run out of other's people's money. Here is a budget that makes it clear the money has run out and the government has no idea how to solve the problem - so, all major decisions have been deferred to February next year. The welfare state continues to grow, government hopes spending on infrastructure will ignite growth, and the projected revenue shortfall of R50bn may have to be settled through the sale of Telkom shares and other state-owned assets. 

Come budget time, government habitually overestimates growth. That throws out budgeting forecasts and would help explain the R30.4 billion shortfall in revenue collection last year. But 7 out of the last 8 budgets have over-estimated growth, so we should treat government forecasts (and budgets) with a pinch of salt, says Moneyweb.

Finance minister Pravin Gordhan's 2017 budget was probably the best he could do under the circumstances. It was probably enough to stay ratings agencies’ hands but SA remains on the brink of a downgrade and political uncertainty could tip the scales, economists warn. 

Pravin Gordhan's budget was aimed not so much at trade unions or the party faithful, but at the ratings agencies, writes Tony Leon. History teaches us that a country which loses its credit rating is indeed headed for the junkyard.

Higher taxes on the rich, a freeze on public sector hiring, a valiant if over-optimistic attempt to rein in public debt - it's all there in the Budget announced today by finance minister Pravin Gordhan. Here are the highlights.

Opposition parties were less than enamoured with much of what finance minister Pravin Gordhan announced in his latest budget today. Here we take a look at some of the reaction from Grant Thornton executives.

The ANC government was generally slammed for a Budget that saw personal income tax rates for the first time in 20 years, while not nearly enough was being done to tackle government spending and crony capitalism, according to opposition MPs.

The 2015 Budget was tabled today by finance minister Nhlanhle Nene. It contains a 1% hike in tax rates for middle to high-income earners, increased road accident levies, but also a serious effort by government to curtail spending.

The Democratic Alliance came out swinging ahead of SA's Budget speech, arguing that the well-publicised and expected increases in taxes are not necessary. Rather, the government should cut back on wasteful spending and start selling off state-owned assets.

Figures from the Debt Counsellors Association of SA shows a more than 50% increase in the number of consumers applying for debt review over the last 18 months. That shocking bit of news will weigh heavily on Finance Minister Nhlanlha Nene as he prepares his Budget Speech for next week.

Budget update: government plans to spend R847bn over the next three years on public infrastructure, with signature projects such as Medupi power station, Transnet and Metrorail upgrades and a nearly 50% increase in social projects over the next two years. 

Finance minister Pravin Gordhan delivered a pre-election budget today that talked up the ANC's achivements over the last five years and appealed to the poor and the disaffected.