Finance minister says Treasury managing to remain "fiscally credible"

August 25, 2016 6:09 AM

Gordhan however said the economy was resilient, and Treasury would be sticking to its fiscal targets.

South Africa's Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan gestures as he arrives to deliver his 2016 budget address to the parliament in Cape Town, February 24, 2016.

South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Wednesday that the domestic growth outlook remained bleak, reiterating that economic expansion would be close to zero percent this year as forecast by the central bank.

"I want to argue that we have been capable of making the tough decisions. We've shaved budget after budget, number after number to remain fiscally credible," he told the chamber of commerce in Cape Town.

Africa's most industrialised country narrowly avoided downgrades to subinvestment status in a round of reviews by the three major ratings agencies in the first half of the year, but is teetering on the brink of recession.

In additional remarks, Gordhan read a statement he had issued earlier, stating that he would not appear before police who had requested him to meet them over an investigation into a suspected rogue spy unit in the tax service.