The Leader of Opposition (LOO) Dumelang Saleshando says the government’s fiscal path, marked by widening deficits and rising debt, risks undermining the country’s long-standing economic stability.
Saleshando said the 2026 budget reflects a pattern in which expenditure continues to grow faster than revenue, producing ever-larger deficits at a time when the economy has contracted for two consecutive years.
Projected deficits exceeding P26 billion and plans that would push public debt beyond the statutory ceiling of 40 percent of gross domestic product, he argued, represent a dangerous departure from fiscal discipline. Rather than adjusting spending, the government has proposed raising the legal debt limit.
Credit rating agencies downgraded the country in 2025 and warned that further downgrades are likely unless spending is aligned with declining revenues. Higher borrowing costs, Saleshando warned, could crowd out spending on infrastructure and social services.
“Rules are being bent after they are broken,” the LOO said. “That is not prudence.”
In his reaponse to the Budget Speech Saleshando said borrowing is increasingly used to fund recurrent costs, including a growing wage bill and expansive social commitments rather than long-term investment. Development spending, he said, has remained largely stagnant, limiting prospects for recovery and diversification.
Credit rating agencies downgraded the country in 2025 and warned that further downgrades are likely unless spending is aligned with declining revenues. Higher borrowing costs, Saleshando warned, could crowd out spending on infrastructure and social services.
Finance officials have highlighted reductions in supplementary budgets and non-essential procurement as evidence of restraint. But Saleshando argued that without structural reforms, including a leaner executive and stricter fiscal rules, such measures are insufficient.
“We are keeping the patient alive on debt,” he said, “while ignoring the underlying disease.”
