STIMULUS
NEVA MAKGETLA: How will we measure effect of economic package on daily lives?
The new economic package tries to thread the same needle as its predecessors. It has to reassure both established business, which benefits from the status quo, and the majority of voters, who don’t — or who at least get far less. The interests of these two blocs are often divergent and frequently contradictory. To date, the government has generally ended up providing half-hearted or even conflicting measures, satisfying neither. The new package hews to the tradition of making specific promises to reassure investors, with broader, vaguer proposals for everyone else. Business gets specific promises to eliminate high-profile regulatory blockages and improve infrastructure; global financial institutions and ratings agencies get a restrictive fiscal envelope. Adhering to the austerity strategy adopted a few years ago presents more significant challenges. This package hopes to crowd in private investment, especially through partnerships. The marked slowdown in the economy from 2014 was sp...
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