09-OCT-1991
16:57
SECRETARIAT D.A.U.
+852 845 7895
P.13
23
major
concern. I made the point last year that there is no
In May, the Government froze fees and charges
easy cure.
and cut back on increases in tobacco duty. Civil servants
contributed
by accepting a non-inflationary pay increase.
We
have worked hard to
restrain
other areas of public
expenditure.
45.
These
have measures
hau
some impact.
Inflatio
declined
from a peak of 13.9% in April to 12.7% in August.
This is still far too high. We must consider urgently what
else we can do to reduce inflation.
45.
The cal dongez
Smada at
too high a level if we do not tackle some of the structural
obstacles to economic growth. One of the main ones is the
acute shortage of labour in some sectors of the economy.
Inflation is only part of
chronic shortage of labour.
the price we must pay for our
In addition, this shortage
imposes a severe constraint on the economy's capacity to
expand and create
additional wealth. And the shortage of
workers will increase as our infrastructural projects get
underway.
/47.
We