World Bank pushes for early notices on ‘emergency’ budgets

The World Bank wants the National Treasury to notify Parliament earlier on emergency spending requests as a measure to contain runaway government expenditures which have made supplementary budgets a routine fixture.

The multilateral lender says pre-approved spending under Article 223 of the Constitution has been abused, resulting in spending requests that are not pressing in nature, giving rise to wider fiscal deficits, increased borrowing and a higher debt load.