BusinessDay.gif State 'to intervene to boost economy and save jobs' Karl Gernetzky, Business Day, Johannesburg, 24 November 2015 Tough economic condition will see numerous economic interventions in the South African economy to save jobs, including antidumping tariffs and support to battered commodity-based sectors, Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel said on Tuesday. Addressing thousands of Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) delegates in Midrand, Mr Patel said the government would continue to use instruments of state to bolster key economic sectors, while it was spending R1bn a working day on infrastructure. Jobs would remain the key priority of the government's economic cluster, Mr Patel said, as he provided a slew of statistics on South Africa's economic performance since COSATU's last congress in 2012. Support for the clothing textile sector, through both tariffs and support for 99 factories through the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), had finally seen the reversal of years of job declines in this sector - with 1,000 jobs created over the past year, he said. The slump in the commodity sector threatened African growth rates in general, while South Africa must prepare for reduced demands for its key exports, the five largest export earners of which were commodities - led by iron ore, said Mr Patel said. The threat of job losses in the metals and engineering sector had led to interventions including that of helping prevent the closure of Highveld Steel. A support plan for Scaw Metals "saved 7,000 jobs," Mr Patel said, "so when metalworkers look at their government they must see a government that is actively supporting jobs in the metals industry". Policy interventions would continue, with the Industrial Action Policy Plan renewed since the last COSATU congress in 2012, while a draft Agricultural Policy Action Plan had been developed, Mr Patel said. From: <http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/2015/11/24/state-to-intervene-to-boost-eco nomy-and-save-jobs> http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/2015/11/24/state-to-intervene-to-boost-econ omy-and-save-jobs -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] . --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "YCLSA Discussion Forum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
