THURSDAY, 5.00PM
ZIMBABWEAN Congress of Trade Unions president Gibson Sibanda has castigated the government for high budget deficit, saying it is a major contributor to workers’ suffering through high interest rates and inflation levels.
“The biggest problem in this country is the budget deficit, which is causing high inflation, which is the worker’s enemy number one,” Sibanda told 700 workers at a meeting on Wednesday night, prior to Thursday’s tabling of the budget in parliament.
The country’s budget deficit, a result of too much government borrowing from the domestic market, is estimated at 11% of the gross domestic product.
Sibanda’s comments came in the wake of countrywide demonstrations by workers from various sectors of the economy demanding pay increases. “It is a worker’s right to go on strike. It is enshrined in the constitution,” Sibanda said, adding that real wages are 60% lower than 1991 levels. “For the first time in history we now have the working poor. Wages are chasing prices instead of the other way round,” Sibanda said. He added that the country is witnessing the emergence of a few “filthy rich” individuals while a majority of the population lives in “utter poverty”.
BUSINESS BRIEFS
FORBES BUYS LONDON BROKER LOCAL Forbes Group on Thursday successfully placed 45,5-million shares on the London Stock Echange at R7,80 a share to raise about 45-million of the 85-million it needs to fund its recommended offer to buy London-based brokerage Nelson Hurst.
CANCER AD DROPPED THE Cancer Association of SA (Cansa) has withdrawn an anti-smoking radio advertisment after threats of legal action by the Riggio Tobacco Corporation of New York. Cansa earlier amended the advertisement after the American Cigarette Company informed it the words “international passport” was its registered trade mark in respect of tobacco products. Riggio claims the phrase “that’s the one” used in the ad violates its trade mark. Said Cansa representative Katherine Everett: “We have had to withdraw the advert on legal advice because we did not want to risk incurring the prohibitive costs of their high court action if we lost.”
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