South Africa - Public finance

The fiscal year runs from 1 April to 31 March. The minister of finance presents the budget to Parliament in March for authorization of expenditures and imposition of the necessary taxes. In 1994, the ANC inherited a government that owned about half of all capital assets, one-quarter of them parastatal corporations. Since then, privatization has moved slowly, but steadily.

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) estimates that in 2002/2003 South Africa's central government took in revenues of approximately $22.6 billion and had expenditures of $24.7 billion. Overall, the government registered a deficit of approximately $2.1 billion. External debt totaled $25.5 billion.

The following table shows an itemized breakdown of government revenues. The percentages were calculated from data reported by the International Monetary Fund. The dollar amounts (millions) are based on the CIA estimates provided above.