Bianca Fisher, an Economics student at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), was awarded the runner-up prize at the 2018 Nedbank & Old Mutual National Budget Speech Essay Competition. This competition is the most prestigious essay competition in South Africa and past winners of the competition read like a “who’s who” of South African economists.

The top prize of R150 000 was awarded to the winner of the postgraduate section of the competition. To win, students have to write an essay on a predetermined topic and impress the adjudicators with their understanding of the economy during a panel interview.

Ms. Fisher’s essay argued for policymakers to shift their attention towards restoring and maintaining fiscal policy credibility through stability and consolidation. “I discussed the actions government can take to restore fiscal credibility. Moreover, I proposed a time-varying index to measure National Treasury credibility to identify the current level of fiscal credibility. Additionally, I provided an empirical link between fiscal and monetary policy credibility in South Africa over the past 17 years,” she said.

The winning essays can be accessed on the competition website.