ANC's new economic action plan 'unlikely' to inspire confidence in investors - CDE

There's been very little positive reaction to the new ten-point economic recovery plan unveiled by President Cyril Ramaphosa at a meeting of the ANC's National Executive Committee (NEC) on Monday.

The Economic Action Plan, which is geared toward driving economic growth, was developed by the ANC NEC in response to concerns over the current state of the economy.

Stephen Grootes gets input from Ann Bernstein, executive director of the development think tank, Centre for Development and Enterprise (CDE).

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Considering that President Ramaphosa himself used the term 'economic emergency', she finds the ANC response or intervention a strange one, Bernstein comments.

She describes it as muddled, vague in parts, and lacking credibility.

"There are some highly detailed recommendations and then some very broad ones - it is hard to decode."

Most important, says Bernstein, is that she believes the plan is unlikely to inspire confidence in investors. unless a lot more information is provided, along with an indication that the ANC is read to grapple with some fundamental changes.

"They seem very concerned about aligning all their policies; fiscal, monetary and industrial, while we're much more concerned - in the midst of a fiscal crisis - in the sustainability of their policies."

A report released by the CDE soon after Ramaphosa's announcement, argues that despite our unemployment crisis, government continues to avoid the essential reforms that would change the country’s trajectory.

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Instead, it says, government continues to rely on piecemeal public employment initiatives such as the Presidential Employment Stimulus or the Expanded Public Works Programme that 'will never shift the needle on unemployment'.

To listen to the CDE's Ann Bernstein in conversation with Stephen Grootes on 702's The Money Show, click on the audio link below: