Official opposition finance spokesperson Raenette Taljaard says South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel cannot merely state that an error has been made over inflation figures by Statistics SA (Stats SA).
In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, following the minister’s meeting with the Statistics Council and the decision to delay last week’s release of the CPIX because of concerns about its accuracy, Taljaard said Manuel was accountable for the actions and lapses on their part.
The concern over inflation figures follows warnings by economists that Stats SA had used outdated rental income figures.
“The significance of these errors cannot be over-emphasised. Every budgetary projection — which used inflation indicators — will have to be adjusted. Monetary policy and monetary policy decisions that may have been based on faulty data could equally be in question. What is even more serious is the fact that these errors will make it near impossible to compare data henceforth,” said Taljaard.
She noted that Manuel had already requested a full review of CPIX nearly a year ago “and should have picked up these errors as part of that process”.
Taljaard said the minister should account for these errors and should take all steps to ensure that action is taken against those responsible. She said her party, the Democratic Alliance, would table parliamentary questions to Manuel on these issues.
“Confidence, confidence, confidence is key. Hard-won confidence in our macro-economic policies and fiscal discipline, and indeed our monetary policy in a context of inflation targeting, cannot be undone by slip-ups like the recent CPIX circus at Stats SA. Confidence is hard-won and easily lost,” said Taljaard. – I-Net Bridge