Mboweni has his work cut out

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa possibly opted for Tito Mboweni to become Finance Minister because the latter is not saddled with the baggage of scrutiny that his Cabinet colleagues are burdened with.

This independence does not take away the fact that National Treasury works with other government departments in an economic cluster and it is likely that Mboweni will deliver former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene’s MidTerm Budget later this month.

Mboweni will face his own challenges, including convincing local business to open their purses and invest in the country.

This is the investment that Ramaphosa is after so that he can stimulate the economy and encourage growth.

Winning over business will take more than changing the finance minister and will have to include policy changes for business to fully embrace Mboweni.

He has four months to impose himself before he delivers the full term Budget – and this is where we will see Mboweni’s approach to factors such as radical economic transformation.

Mboweni, prior to being appointed to the Ramaphosa Cabinet, spoke of the need for government to purchase one of the big banks to make it easier for people to get finance.

This is a radical approach to stimulating the economy and could point to the direction the new finance minister will take as he tries to provide stability and leadership to an economy that badly needs it.