Use of cheques has been on a steep decline for the past 20 years, both in terms of number of cheques written and the value (Graph 6). In April, the value of cheque payments was more than 40 per cent lower than twelve months earlier, compared with annual rates of decline of around 20 per cent in previous months.
For the 1997/98 fiscal year, total interest payments in the government debt will absorb R39 billion, or more than 20 per cent of the total expenditure. It is also laudable to note that the smaller deficit on the Budget is being achieved through constraints on government expenditure, and not through an increase in taxes.