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/ 23 February 2005
Beleaguered Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia’s future was on the line Wednesday as he shied away from a vote in Parliament on his prospective Cabinet, which has already begun to unravel. Barely an hour before MPs were to begin a session to vote on his ministerial team, a legislative council spokesperson announced that the meeting was off.
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/ 23 February 2005
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There has been a 76% increase over the past three years in the number of people receiving disability and care dependency grants in the Eastern Cape, according to the Budget Review tabled by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel at Parliament on Wednesday.
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/ 23 February 2005
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Whether drowning your sorrows or celebrating your fiscal gains in 2005, both will be more expensive as Minister of Finance Trevor Manual has announced increases in excise duties on most alcoholic beverages on Wednesday during his Budget address. Also, from March 1, buying a house will cost buyers less as Manuel announced the reduction of transfer duties on properties.
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/ 23 February 2005
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The Inkatha Freedom Party was the first to welcome Finance Minister Trevor Manuel’s 2005/06 Budget tabled in Parliament on Wednesday. The party said while the Budget was ”highly commendable” it had some doubts over whether the government could meet its implementation requirements.
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/ 23 February 2005
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Real household consumption spending grew at an estimated year-on-year rate of 5,9% during 2004, according to Budget information tabled in Parliament on Wednesday. The documents were tabled by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel while presenting his Budget in the National Assembly.
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/ 23 February 2005
Award-winning Xhosa-language film uCarmen eKhayelitsha got another honourable mention on Wednesday, in Finance Minister Trevor Manuel’s Budget speech. In his opening remarks, he said the world had acclaimed the film, which won a Golden Bear award at the weekend as the best film at the Berlin Film Festival.
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/ 23 February 2005
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South Africa’s savings rate is among the lowest in the world, according to the Budget Review, tabled by Finance Minister Trevor Manuel on Wednesday.The document says savings in the country dropped from 16,2% of gross domestic product (GDP) in the third quarter of 2003, to 14,7% of GDP in the third quarter of 2004.
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/ 23 February 2005
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Smokers will be coughing up R620-million in additional revenue for the fiscus during the 2005/06 financial year, thanks to an increase in excise duties. Presenting his Budget in Parliament on Wednesday, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said excise duties on tobacco products would be increased by between 7,5 and 14,9%, with immediate effect.
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/ 23 February 2005
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Total expenditure, excluding interest costs and a contingency reserve, rises from R363-billion in 2005/06 to R428-billion by the end of the medium term expenditure framework period in 2007/08, South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said on Wednesday.
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/ 23 February 2005
The state’s claims that the trial judge who acquitted apartheid chemical and biological warfare expert Dr Wouter Basson was biased were examined in the Constitutional Court on Wednesday. Alfred Cockrell argued on behalf of the state that any reasonable person would conclude trial Judge Willie Hartzenberg had been unconsciously biased.