/ 29 July 2013

SA to name presidential economic task team

ANC secretary general
ANC secretary general

South Africa will appoint a presidential task team to focus on accelerating growth in the country, Gwede Mantashe, secretary general of the ruling ANC, said.

Members of the task team will probably be announced after a cabinet planning meeting that’s due to take place in the middle of August, Mantashe told reporters in Johannesburg on Monday.

 

“We will appoint a task team to consult on how the bottlenecks to growth can be addressed,” he said.

 

The economy is set to expand at its slowest pace since a 2009 recession this year as a recession in Europe and mining strikes curb exports.

 

The central bank has cut its forecast for economic growth for this year to 2% from 2.4%. That’s less than half the rate of expansion the government says is necessary to reach a goal of creating 5-million jobs by 2020.

– Bloomberg