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Fiscal Risks Recede as ConCourt Backs Cancellation of 2018 Wage Agreement

SOUTH AFRICA
  • S. AFRICAN COURT BACKS STATE’S CANCELLATION OF 2018 PAY ACCORD - this is a major positive for the Govt
  • South Africa’s top court upheld a ruling by a lower tribunal that allowed the government to renege on salary increases for public servants, bolstering its efforts to rein in runaway debt and the budget deficit
  • The government backtracked on an agreement to raise pay for about 1.3 million employees in 2020, the final year of a three-year deal. The move was as part of an effort to contain its wage bill, which grew at an inflation-beating annual average rate of 7.3% before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic
  • Monday’s ruling means the government won’t have to find additional funds to make good on the agreement or bolster efforts to reduce its headcount. While honoring the deal would have cost the government 37 billion rand ($2.4 billion) in the 2021 fiscal year, it would have now been on the hook for 75 billion rand in back-pay for civil servants - bbg
MNI London Bureau | +44 020-3983-7894 | murray.nichol@marketnews.com
MNI London Bureau | +44 020-3983-7894 | murray.nichol@marketnews.com

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