Gordhan: government to focus on long-term infrastructure development
BuaNews reports: the government will place more emphasis on funding the development of long-term infrastructure, the Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan said when he presented the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement in Parliament. Public-sector investment in infrastructure - which has increased from 4.3% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2005 to 7.5% in the first half of 2011 - remained central to the government's economic development plans, Gordhan said.
"Infrastructure projects in energy, roads, rail, telecommunications and water will ease bottlenecks and reduce costs in the rest of the economy, crowding in private investment and improving access to export markets," said Gordhan. Over the next three years the government plans to spend R802 billion on infrastructure - mostly on energy, transport and logistics and water and sanitation.
Eskom's capital expenditure programme, which is expected to double electricity generation by 2025, and the expansion of bulk freight rail which will help raise transport volumes from 47 million tons to 60 millions tons, are also included in these investments. Gordhan said that, of the R185.3 billion spent on public-sector infrastructure in the last financial year, over a third or R69.1 billion was invested in transport and logistics and R52.5 billion in energy, while water and sanitation made up R14.4 billion. Also included in these investments was R6.7 billion in hospitals and clinics, R6 billion in schools and R3.8 billion in courts.
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