However, the minister was also the first to cast doubt on the surplus being realised, listing a plethora of threats to the country's core sources of revenue.Hence his guarded tone at a time when the figures before him suggested he should have been punching the air in celebration of his maiden surplus following three years of multi-billion pula budgetary shortfalls.
According to the figures, the 2012/13 budget is forecast to be nominally higher than its predecessor, with spending at P41.76 billion slightly higher than the 2011/12 revised expenditure of P41.75 billion. With forecast 2012/13 revenues at P42.91 billion, the figures indicated a surplus of P1.15 billion, or nearly one percent of forecast Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of P126 billion. But far from celebrating, Matambo prefixed his announcement of the surplus with warnings that actualising the forecast revenues would be difficult, given the numerous challenges in the global economy. With government's commitment to keep this year's expenditure limited to revenues, the warnings suggest that instead of a budget surplus, economic growth could be unsettled by spending cuts. "This year's budget is prepared under conditions of considerable uncertainty, with a possibility of yet another recession looming," Matambo said. "It also comes at a time when our debt level has increased and our future revenues are projected to fall substantially."
