Onaran, Özlem ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6345-9922 and Oyvat, Cem ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5097-0246 (2024) The Effects of Public Investment in the Green and Care Economies and Public Infrastructure in South Africa. [Working Paper]

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Abstract

This paper argues that a comprehensive mix of policy tools is essential to catalyse the urgent public investment required to address South Africa's growth, inequality, care, and climate change crises. According to the National Treasury, from 2010 to 2019, South Africa's growth averaged only 1.75% annually, a figure further reduced when factoring in the COVID-19-impacted years of 2020 and 2021. Fiscal policy involves decisions regarding government spending levels, tax revenue generation, and borrowing. Since 2013, a fiscal consolidation strategy has been in place to curb public spending growth, resulting in decreased expenditures on public services due to rising debt service costs. This paper argues that increasing public spending on the care economy, green economy, and public infrastructure would boost GDP and employment, thereby altering public debt/GDP ratios. It advocates expansionary fiscal policies, clear development targets, and coordinated fiscal, monetary, industrial, labour, and social policies.

Item Type:	Working Paper
Additional Information:	Wits University in South Africa provides open access to its working papers. The university supports open access publishing through its institutional repository called WIReDSpace. This repository hosts a variety of research outputs, including working papers, which are freely accessible to the public. - MP
Uncontrolled Keywords:	fiscal policy, fiscal multipliers, Green economy, Care economy, public infrastructure, South Africa, public expenditure
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory H Social Sciences > HJ Public Finance
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Greenwich Business School Greenwich Business School > Political Economy, Governance, Finance and Accountability (PEGFA) Journal of Economic Literature Classification > Political Economy, Governance, Finance and Accountability (PEGFA) Greenwich Business School > Political Economy, Governance, Finance and Accountability (PEGFA) > Greenwich Political Economy Research Centre (GPERC) Journal of Economic Literature Classification > Political Economy, Governance, Finance and Accountability (PEGFA) > Greenwich Political Economy Research Centre (GPERC) Journal of Economic Literature Classification > Greenwich Political Economy Research Centre (GPERC) Greenwich Business School > School of Accounting, Finance and Economics
Last Modified:	01 May 2025 11:49
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/50294

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