Yudhvir Seetharam As the domestic economy continues to contract, Finance Minister, Pravin Gordhan has tough decisions to make while curbing spending, accommodating the drought-stricken agricultural sector and ensuring that small businesses continue to grow. “The National Budget Speech has a direct impact on the bottom line of SMEs and influences long-term business decisions,” says Yudhvir Seetharam, Head of Analytics for FNB Business, as he unpacks reasons why small businesses should make time for the budget speech.  Tax – this should be watched closely as high unemployment, decreasing disposable income of consumers and the slowdown in economic growth are currently leading to lower tax revenues for the government. Meanwhile, tax relief for small businesses would have a major impact on their profit margins. High youth unemployment – the current youth subsidy may be cancelled due to complaints that it is not effective enough. However, scrapping this subsidy, while saving o...