ID – GOVERNMENT MUST ACT NOW TO REDUCE JOB LOSSES
9 DECEMBER 2008-ID Chief Whip Lance Greyling has accused Finance Minister Trevor Manuel of ‘going back on his word during the period of economic growth in our country, when he said that he was saving money during the good times so that he could spend money in the bad times.
ID Chief Whip Lance Greyling has accused Finance Minister Trevor Manuel
of ‘going back on his word during the period of economic growth in our
country, when he said that he was saving money during the good times so
that he could spend money in the bad times.
‘It is clear that the current global financial crisis is having a hugely negative effect on our people, with statistics showing that over 70 000 South Africans have lost their jobs in the third quarter of this year alone,’ Mr Greyling says.
‘If this trend continues we are looking at a situation where there will be hundreds of thousands of extra unemployed people in our country.
‘We in the Independent Democrats would like to appeal to Manuel to do more to get the economy working for the tens of thousands of families who already living without an income,’ says Greyling.
‘Urgent action is required to ensure that job losses are kept to a minimum and Manuel must show he is serious about protecting jobs by instituting an aggressive fiscal stimulus package that will get our country working.’
The ID’s 5-Point Job Protection Plan:
1. Stimulate Growth –
• We need a more relaxed monetary policy that brings down interest rates; while inflation might have been a concern a year ago, all indicators are currently showing the opposite trend.
• Commodity prices have fallen by up to 60% and consumer spending has slowed.
• There is sufficient space for the Reserve Bank to lower interest rates and they must do so in order to stimulate growth.
2. An aggressive fiscal stimulus package –
• Government must co-ordinate its activities across departments and ensure that spending is temporarily increased on measures such as public works and infrastructure build.
• It is clear that private sector companies will enter a survivalist mode and that government must pick up the slack so as to ensure that the economy keeps ticking over.
3. A more expansionary budget –
• Treasury has predicted a small deficit over the next few years. However, this is not due to a major increase in spending, but rather less tax revenue because of the predicted downturn in our economy.
• The ID believes that we need to follow the lead of other countries around the world, like the US and China who are ramping up their government spending during this temporary downturn period.
• The ID believes that the projected deficit can be increased, although it should still be kept to below 3%.
4. More effective Government spending –
• It is a sad reality that those departments responsible for the new infrastructure build are the same departments that are guilty of not spending their budgets.
• South Africa cannot afford such a situation, particularly in such difficult times and pressure must be brought to bear on these ministers to ensure that money is appropriately spent.
5. Decrease import intensity of our infrastructural build –
• The ID maintains that we must receive value for money for every rand that
government spends on infrastructure.
• We must avoid entering into contracts such as the proposed R700 billion nuclear deal, which will merely make foreign companies rich and not sufficiently stimulate our local industries and job creation.
• It is imperative that during this period we primarily invest government money in projects that are going to deliver real benefits in terms of job creation.
For media enquiries, please contact Steven Otter, ID Media Officer, on 084 233 3881
‘It is clear that the current global financial crisis is having a hugely negative effect on our people, with statistics showing that over 70 000 South Africans have lost their jobs in the third quarter of this year alone,’ Mr Greyling says.
‘If this trend continues we are looking at a situation where there will be hundreds of thousands of extra unemployed people in our country.
‘We in the Independent Democrats would like to appeal to Manuel to do more to get the economy working for the tens of thousands of families who already living without an income,’ says Greyling.
‘Urgent action is required to ensure that job losses are kept to a minimum and Manuel must show he is serious about protecting jobs by instituting an aggressive fiscal stimulus package that will get our country working.’
The ID’s 5-Point Job Protection Plan:
1. Stimulate Growth –
• We need a more relaxed monetary policy that brings down interest rates; while inflation might have been a concern a year ago, all indicators are currently showing the opposite trend.
• Commodity prices have fallen by up to 60% and consumer spending has slowed.
• There is sufficient space for the Reserve Bank to lower interest rates and they must do so in order to stimulate growth.
2. An aggressive fiscal stimulus package –
• Government must co-ordinate its activities across departments and ensure that spending is temporarily increased on measures such as public works and infrastructure build.
• It is clear that private sector companies will enter a survivalist mode and that government must pick up the slack so as to ensure that the economy keeps ticking over.
3. A more expansionary budget –
• Treasury has predicted a small deficit over the next few years. However, this is not due to a major increase in spending, but rather less tax revenue because of the predicted downturn in our economy.
• The ID believes that we need to follow the lead of other countries around the world, like the US and China who are ramping up their government spending during this temporary downturn period.
• The ID believes that the projected deficit can be increased, although it should still be kept to below 3%.
4. More effective Government spending –
• It is a sad reality that those departments responsible for the new infrastructure build are the same departments that are guilty of not spending their budgets.
• South Africa cannot afford such a situation, particularly in such difficult times and pressure must be brought to bear on these ministers to ensure that money is appropriately spent.
5. Decrease import intensity of our infrastructural build –
• The ID maintains that we must receive value for money for every rand that
government spends on infrastructure.
• We must avoid entering into contracts such as the proposed R700 billion nuclear deal, which will merely make foreign companies rich and not sufficiently stimulate our local industries and job creation.
• It is imperative that during this period we primarily invest government money in projects that are going to deliver real benefits in terms of job creation.
For media enquiries, please contact Steven Otter, ID Media Officer, on 084 233 3881
