Tax hikes to fund Covid-19 vaccines?
By Jacqueline Mackenzie
(Bloomberg) – South Africa’s National Treasury is considering raising taxes as one of several possible mechanisms to fund the vaccination drive against Covid-19, Business Day reported.
At this point South Africa is due to get 9 million doses from Johnson & Johnson, 1.5 million shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine, 12 million through Covax and 12.25 million from the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team, according to the daily newspaper.
Other options the Treasury is exploring include widening the budget deficit and re-prioritising government spending. The pandemic was a good case for emergency funding, Business Day cited Mogajane as saying.