TMG Digital/BusinessLive report that Cabinet has called on business‚ labour and society generally to partner with government "as a matter of urgency" to arrest the decline in economic growth.  

Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba plans to meet with business leaders to formulate strategies to counter the recession and achieve inclusive growth.  Cabinet's call was made in the wake of this week's revelation that gross domestic product contracted by 0.7% in the first quarter of 2017‚ which cabinet said was worse than expected and significantly lower than the 1.3% projected for 2017 in the budget review.  At a post-cabinet media briefing on Thursday‚ Communications Minister Ayanda Dlodlo said it was urgent that business confidence was improved and growth programmes intensified "so as to arrest the decline and set the economy on a higher trajectory".  Partnerships with the private sector and labour were said to be necessary to address unemployment and the downgrades by credit ratings agencies.

• Read this report by Linda Ensor at TimesLive

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