Responding to the G20 agreement announced this afternoon, Grahame Smith, Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) General Secretary said:
“The deal contains some very welcome measures but is, as a whole, insufficient to meet the challenges facing the global economy.
“The additional finance for the IMF is welcome; particularly given that the organisation appears to be turning against the orthodoxies that have driven its activity in the recent past. It is however vital that support for struggling countries is free from conditionality based on free market dogma.
“Action against tax havens and commitments to regulate bonuses and the shadow banking sector signal a welcome and long overdue change in direction.
“However, the failure to agree a co-ordinated global stimulus package is deeply disappointing. Given the pace of decline in the UK economy, it is crucial that a further domestic stimulus is introduced as part of Budget 2009”.
ENDS
Notes
The STUC will publish its 2009 Budget Submission on Friday
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