Press Release: Finance Minister finds promise in SA-TIED initiative

Today, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni highlighted an initiative that aims to promote inclusive economic growth in the region through evidence-based policy creation.

Mboweni’s comments came during his maiden Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement in Parliament.

He said that South African policymakers, together with local and international experts, demonstrate their commitment to a more robust and shared South African economy through their work in the Southern Africa – Towards Inclusive Economic Development (SA-TIED) programme.

A unique partnership

The SA-TIED programme is a three-year initiative, inaugurated at the end of 2017. It aims to improve the interface between cutting-edge research and policy formulation, by engaging policymakers and researchers in a shared process of knowledge creation and capacity building.

The programme is a partnership between departments in the economic cluster and local and international research and policy institutes. Through the programme, officials in the National Treasury and the South African Revenue Services have developed new models and methods for evidence-based, data-driven targeting and tracking of national policy.

A minimum of 150 research projects will be completed over the course of the project, with findings that will guide policy debates on everything from enterprise dynamics and job creation to inequality, macroeconomic policy, climate change mitigation, and regional cooperation.

South African ministries as international forerunners

As participants in SA-TIED, South African ministries continue to be international forerunners in policy-based research. South Africa is one of the first nations on the continent to develop tax microsimulation models to guide policy and it is one of the first nations in the world to anonymise and use detailed tax administrative data in macroeconomic studies.

The South African economy has substantial potential for economic transformation and inclusive growth. It is a regional leader. The research activities of the SA-TIED programme are expected to facilitate the development and implementation of policies that spur economic transformation and inclusive growth, both within South Africa and in the region.

Ends

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