CAPE TOWN - The Finance Minister is expected to perform a balancing act when he delivers his medium-term budget amid increasing debt, a struggling economy and relentless blackouts.
Investec chief economist Annabel Bishop predicts a R50-billion shortfall for the fiscal year.
This means government will have to borrow even more to plug that gap.
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"What that really means is that government does a budget estimate at the start of the start of the year in February.
"They say that they expect to collect so much revenue for the fiscal year which runs from April to March next year," Bishop said.
"We think they are going to collect R50-billion less than they expected.
"What this really means is that they're going to have to borrow more money because of the fact that they are overspending."