Chairperson, I am responding to the statement that noted the small but nonetheless welcome reduction in the rate of unemployment. I think it is also important to take note of the fact that there were two other important statistics that came out earlier this week. They were about seasonally adjusted figures for growth, and they showed that in the fourth quarter of last year we were at 4,1% and that 9,5% was the contribution of manufacturing.
Now, I am not so naive as to assume that one quarter's figures tell us that everything is well. Of course, we are now in the quarter where we are going to face the impact of the energy crisis. But I think it does tell us that it is possible to gain real momentum from changing the growth path towards one that is led by productive sectors - value-added sectors in particular.
The nine-point programme that was announced by the President and elaborated on by some of my colleagues in the state of the nation address debate represents government's efforts to try to address the binding constraints on our economy and then to accelerate the work that we are doing to place our economy on a newer, higher value-added growth path, which is the only one that is compatible with developing our country. In that whole debate I did not hear any coherent alternatives. Therefore, I am assuming that there is consensus that we are moving in the right direction. Thank you very much.
