Government expenditure and debt were kept under control, the capacity of the South African Revenue Service to collect taxes efficiently was enhanced, and an environment conducive to economic growth was fostered. Progress was made on all these fronts, with the growing economy expanding the tax base and the formidable Revenue Service ensuring that the fiscus received what was due to it.
The buoyant tax revenue growth over the past 15 years  BIS Review 109/2009  5  made it possible to raise government expenditure and transfers quite substantially while, at the same time, keeping the budget deficit small enough to reduce the ratio of government debt to gross domestic product to 24 per cent in the second quarter of 2009.