2. Committee's Observations The Standing Committee on Finance (the Committee) noted that the consolidated government deficit is projected to decrease from 6.3 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in the 2010/11 financial year to 3.2 per cent of GDP in the 2013/14 financial year. The projected reduction in government deficit was driven, amongst other things, by the strong uptake in revenue and the stabilization in non-interest spending. National Treasury indicated that growth in expenditure will need to moderate as debt service costs increase over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF). National Treasury undertook to continue to pursue a counter-cyclical fiscal policy that will aim to grow revenues while gradually reducing non-interest stimulus spending. It is however important to keep the fiscal trajectory on a sustainable path while meeting growth expectations.