Partnership In a partnership, two or more partners pool their abilities and capital.

PAYE Stands for Pay As You Earn. It is the portion of employees' tax relating to annual income from so-called "standard employment" exceeding R60 000, any employment-related allowances, as well as all remuneration classified as "director's remuneration".

Personal saving rate Saving as a percentage of disposable income.

Personal service company Where the services are rendered on behalf of the company (other than a company which is a labour broker) personally by a member/shareholder (a connected person) of the company or any relative of the member/shareholder of the company. Lack of independence in trade

Portfolio investment Investment in financial assets such as stocks and bonds.

Price discovery The process of determining the price level of a commodity or asset based on supply and demand factors.

Primary deficit/surplus The difference between total revenue and non-interest expenditure. When revenue exceeds non-interest expenditure there is a surplus.

Primary residence Concerning Capital Gains Tax (CGT), it is the dwelling-place that you would normally use as your main residence for domestic purposes on a permanent basis. The benefit of having such a dwelling classified as a Primary Residence is that the first R1.5 million of any gains made thereon are exempt from CGT.  Note that only individuals (natural persons) and special trusts may have a residence classified as a Primary Residence (see also the definition of "residence").

Primary sector The agricultural and mining sectors of the economy.

Private company A company is treated, by law, as a single legal entity. It has a life separate and apart from its owners, with rights and duties of its own. The owners are the shareholders.

Private sector credit extension Credit provided to the private sector. This includes all loans, credit cards and leases.

Privatisation The full or partial sale of state-owned enterprises to private individuals or companies.

Producer price inflation (PPI) Price increases measured by the producer price index (PPI), a measure of the prices paid based mainly on published price lists by producers.

Productivity A measure of the amount of output generated from every unit of input. Typically used to measure changes in labour efficiency.

Provisional tax Provisional tax is an advance payment of tax, similar to PAYE, which will be set off against the final tax liability at the end of the tax year. Provisional taxpayers make provisional payments of tax during the tax year, based on their estimated taxable income.

Public benefit organisations Organisations that are mainly funded by donations from the public and other institutions, which engage in social activities meeting the needs, interest and the well-being of the general public.

Public entities Companies, agencies, funds and accounts that are fully or partly owned by government or public authorities and are regulated by law.

Public goods Goods and services that would not be fully provided in a pure free-market system (e.g. defence), and are largely provided by government.

Public Investment Corporation (PIC) A government-owned investment management company that invests funds on behalf of public-sector entities. Its largest client is the Government Employees Pension Fund.

Public private partnerships (PPPs) A contractual arrangement whereby a private party performs part of a government function and assumes the associated risks. In return, the private party receives a fee according to predefined performance criteria.

Public sector borrowing requirement (PSBR) The consolidated cash borrowing requirement of general government and public enterprises.

Public sector National government, provincial government, local government, extra-budgetary governmental institutions, social security funds and non-financial public enterprises.