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Estimates of the Provincial Revenue and Expenditure (EPRE) %u2013 2025/26 Financial YearEXECUTIVE SUMMARY SOCIO-ECONOMIC OUTLOOK The National Treasury and the South African Reserve Bank forecast that the domestic economy will register modest improvements over the near term due to improvements in domestic electricity supply and ports operations. The South African economy is projected to grow by 1.4 per cent in 2025 followed by an average 1.7 per cent over the two outer years. For the Eastern Cape province current economic growth trends are expected to mirror those attained at the national level, with provincial growth estimated at 1.6 per cent in 2025 and averaging 2 per cent per annum for 2026 and 2027. The Agriculture, Manufacturing and Construction sectors remain to be key anchors of growth and employment for the province. To grow and develop, the provincial government will be prioritizing the following nine integration programmes: %uf0b7 Inclusive Early Childhood Development and Learner Attainment;%uf0b7 Transformation, Governance and Municipal Support;%uf0b7 Social cohesion, moral regeneration, community safety & GBVF;%uf0b7 Anti-Poverty & Sustainable Livelihoods;%uf0b7 Infrastructure, Human Settlements & Broadband;%uf0b7 Food Security, land reform & agriculture commercialization;%uf0b7 Inclusive Economic Growth;%uf0b7 Non-Communicable Diseases, mental health & social determinants of health;%uf0b7 Youth Development, skills development & training for the economy.For inclusive economic growth in particular, more focus will be directed at supporting: %uf0b7 Private sector investment promotion & facilitating investments by SOEs in economicinfrastructure in support of local industrial and sector development.%uf0b7 Strengthening provincial government capacity in infrastructure planning, financing anddelivery.%uf0b7 Leveraging provincial economic assets within the Special Economic Zones for investmentattraction and industrial development.%uf0b7 Industry/sector value chains development and transformation focusing on agriculture andagro-processing, access roads linking economic production nodes & tourism sites tomarkets, industrial parks revitalisation, auto sector, tourism development, film and othercreative industries, digital economy and support sustainable green energy.%uf0b7 Investing in ICT, digital economy and broadband connectivity.%uf0b7 Youth development initiatives and youth skills programmes.In relation to population and development indicators the 2022 Census data has shown that the Eastern Cape population is estimated to be 7.2 million with the most populous districts in the province being the O.R Tambo and Nelson Mandela Bay Metro, and Buffalo City Metro. In terms of income distribution a total of 978 174 households or 51 per cent of households in the province reported annual household incomes of R96 000 or below. Accordingly, the province still suffers from high poverty prevalences. This is despite progress attained by government in xiv