CMA targets high dollar

Press, 28 July 1987, Page 27

CMA targets high dollar

The high value of the New Zealand dollar is clearly identified as the biggest factor adversely affecting manufacturers’ export sales, according to the Canterbury Manufacturers’ Association. The chairman, Mr Alan Shadwell, said in the CMA’s annual report that a recent CMA economic survey, covering 30 per cent of Canterbury’s employment in manufacturing, showed 20 per cent of the province's manufacturing production was in exports last year. But, the survey indicated that if the New Zealand dollar remained high, exports would drop to less than 17 per cent of Canterbury’s total manufacturing production, he said.

The CMA estimated that more than 45 per cent of

jobs depended on manufacturing — either directly or indirectly. Manufacturers accepted the need for change, but were anxious that the pace of the Government’s change and innovation in its economic policies were far beyond what industry could encounter without serious dislocation. All these “too far — too fast” policies had led to a 42 per cent decline in manufacturing and falling employment opportunities when unemployment had already reached disturbing proportions, Mr Shadwell said.

“Today, profits are often made from speculation, rather than wealth creation through the production of goods and services which are the true basis of a sound and durable economy.”