Cape Town – President Jacob Zuma says government has taken steps to satisfy the concerns of ratings agencies in order to avert a ratings downgrade.
The President said this when answering oral questions in the National Assembly on Wednesday.
“I believe we have indeed done a lot, working together, to create favourable conditions for economic growth and to stave off any downgrade,” he said.
He said ratings agencies form part of many monitoring mechanisms that encourage the country to improve governance in both the public and private sectors.
President Zuma said government has forged partnerships with business and labour to come up with initiatives aimed at reigniting growth and improving the global competitiveness of the country.
“The purpose is to work together, to reduce policy uncertainty, improve confidence in the country’s ability to achieve inclusive growth,” said the President.
He said progress has been made in implementing short-term measures in several areas. These include:
- R1.4 billion being committed by the private sector to support small business enterprises;
- Companies pledging to offer internships to one million young work seekers;
- The Independent Power Producer Programme in renewable energy attracting investments generating more than 2500 Mega Watts of energy; and
- The performance of some state-owned companies improving.
The President said Cabinet has also approved specific frameworks relating to, among others, the appointment and remuneration of boards of directors in state-owned companies as well as private sector participation in the state-owned companies.
The President also cited the recent announcement of a proposed National Minimum Wage by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa as a “step in the right direction” as the country makes a push to implement labour market reforms.
“We congratulate the Deputy President and his panel, as well as our social partners at NEDLAC for a job well done. This shows that when we work together we can achieve a lot more,” he said.
On Sunday, Deputy President Ramaphosa released an expert-panel report recommending the minimum wage to be set at R3 500 per month or R20 per hour.
Meanwhile, the recently tabled medium term budget announced a further reduction of R26 billion in the spending ceiling over the next two years.
He said the unforeseeable spending pressures such as the increased university subsidies in 2016/17 were accommodated through the contingency reserve.
“We also remain committed to measures such as promoting infrastructure development as part of boosting the economy.
“We have budgeted over R987 billion for infrastructure development over the medium-term expenditure framework period, with continual large investments in energy, transport and telecommunications,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
