PRESIDENT MANDELA'S COMMENTS ON THE BUDGET DEFICIT

Issued by: Office of the President

At the official opening yesterday of the headquarters building of Macsteel International, President Mandela stated: "I listened to the Minister of Finance last week who said that we are on target to bring our budget deficit down to 3 per cent this and next year." In response to media enquiries we need to underline that the President was re-iterating what the Minister said in his budget speech, that in this financial year (1999/2000) and next financial year (2000/20010 the budget deficit will progressively decrease to reach 3 per cent by the year 2000/2001.

Issued by the Office of the President

20 April 1999

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