Although Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s Budget, delivered on February 21, seemed somewhat prudent, Econometrix director and chief economist Dr Azar Jammine said there was not much in it to make one optimistic about South Africa’s economic future either. “The Budget does provide some relief for markets in the sense that it was not reckless. It maintained an element of fiscal austerity. I wasn’t disappointed with the budget but I wasn’t particularly excited either. There was nothing in it that tells me that economic growth is going to pick up from 1.3% a year to more like 3% to 5% a year to start creating more jobs,” he said.