National treasury is considering raising taxes as one of several possible mechanisms to fund the vaccination drive against Covid-19, Business Day reported.
The government viewed the vaccines as a public good and was committed to financing their roll-out, with or without support from the private sector and medical schemes, the Johannesburg-based newspaper reported, citing treasury director-general Dondo Mogajane.
Other options the treasury is exploring include widening the budget deficit and reprioritising government spending. The pandemic was a good case for emergency funding, Business Day cited Mogajane as saying.
The department of health has estimated a maximum cost of R20-billion to vaccinate the entire country, while more recent internal estimates done by the treasury are far lower than this, the newspaper said. — Reported by Jacqueline Mackenzie, (c) 2021 Bloomberg LP