In this What’s Next with Aki Anastasiou interview, Professor Waldo Krugell unpacks what South Africans should expect from the 2025 Budget Speech.

Krugell is a Professor in Economics at the North-West University’s Potchefstroom campus. He holds an MSc in Economics and completed his PhD focusing on the geographical economy of South Africa.

In this What’s Next interview, Krugell discusses the general economic sentiment in South Africa ahead of the 2025 Budget Speech, and unpacks what can be expected for the NHI in the budgetary allocation.

He outlines his predictions for tax changes and his thoughts on how the expansion of the Basic Income Grant will be funded.

Krugell then reveals his expectations for further information about the R940 billion infrastructure investment President Ramaphosa has previously spoken about.

He concludes the interview by sharing how, based on his expectations, the rating agencies will react to the 2025 Budget Speech, and the relevance of recent issues between President Ramaphosa and President Trump.