Business updates

With a few months before the Budget speech and amidst a political cloud of uncertainty, the pace of the high level meetings between the Government and the Business community has accelerated with a degree of transparency and urgency. The frankness and openness  of the exchanges with relevant stakeholders have been refreshing. New ideas and adoption of stretch targets with  an  uncompromising stance towards those reluctant to change can only augur well for the future. New synergies and the identification of real shakers and movers can only make us all move in one direction, which is to reverse the dwindling growth rate we have seen over the past few years.

Renewed dynamism alone will not suffice, if it is not backed up by regulatory certainty and institutional predictability. As has been made abundantly clear during the various pre-budget consultations, We know what to do, but the HOW remains to be addressed. The need to carefully assess the regulatory impact of certain proposed measures ahead of their inclusion in the budget can only help to ensure the smooth implementation of important measures, and it is very commendable that the exercise has started in earnest and also much earlier than in previous years. The joint  public / private assessment and review of the key sectors of the economy has undoubtedly helped to bridge the gap of expectations and lay out a path for sustained reforms to enable us to move forward.

Raju Jaddoo
Secretary General