Whitey Ford
07-26-2022, 04:06 AM
S. Africa Basic Income Grant May Push Emigration, Study Says
https://i.ibb.co/xD4hzgF/unclesam2.jpg
Implementing a basic income grant in South Africa, which has been ranked as the world’s most unequal nation, would slow economic growth and likely lead to the emigration of taxpayers, Intellidex said in a study.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu have said the measure -- which would be the biggest of its kind globally if implemented -- should be considered to alleviate poverty. Business organizations have cautioned against it, saying it’s unaffordable.
Borrowing money to finance the payment, which depending on its structure and level could cost anything between 20 billion rand ($1.2 billion) and 2 trillion rand a year, is unfeasible given the state of South Africa’s finances, Intellidex said in the July 22 report. That leaves higher taxes as the sole way of raising the money, the group said.
South Africa’s taxes are paid by a relatively small number of people and companies, while its personal and corporate tax rank as the 24th highest out of 118 countries assessed by the OECD. Most of the proposals for a basic income grant would necessitate raising between 50 billion rand and 100 billion rand a year, the research group said.
More than half of South African households already get some of welfare payment and the country is ranked as the most unequal, for which data is available by the Thomas Piketty-backed World Inequality Lab.
Business Unity South Africa, the biggest business group, warned against the imposition of a basic income grant in a separate release.
“An unaffordable basic income grant, or one that undermines our very fragile growth path will be self-defeating,” it said.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/s-africa-basic-income-grant-may-push-emigration-study-says/ar-AAZUOpP?rc=1&ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=267eec78e70a4218cf9177d32b20ff7f
https://i.ibb.co/xD4hzgF/unclesam2.jpg
Implementing a basic income grant in South Africa, which has been ranked as the world’s most unequal nation, would slow economic growth and likely lead to the emigration of taxpayers, Intellidex said in a study.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu have said the measure -- which would be the biggest of its kind globally if implemented -- should be considered to alleviate poverty. Business organizations have cautioned against it, saying it’s unaffordable.
Borrowing money to finance the payment, which depending on its structure and level could cost anything between 20 billion rand ($1.2 billion) and 2 trillion rand a year, is unfeasible given the state of South Africa’s finances, Intellidex said in the July 22 report. That leaves higher taxes as the sole way of raising the money, the group said.
South Africa’s taxes are paid by a relatively small number of people and companies, while its personal and corporate tax rank as the 24th highest out of 118 countries assessed by the OECD. Most of the proposals for a basic income grant would necessitate raising between 50 billion rand and 100 billion rand a year, the research group said.
More than half of South African households already get some of welfare payment and the country is ranked as the most unequal, for which data is available by the Thomas Piketty-backed World Inequality Lab.
Business Unity South Africa, the biggest business group, warned against the imposition of a basic income grant in a separate release.
“An unaffordable basic income grant, or one that undermines our very fragile growth path will be self-defeating,” it said.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/s-africa-basic-income-grant-may-push-emigration-study-says/ar-AAZUOpP?rc=1&ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=267eec78e70a4218cf9177d32b20ff7f