2010-11 cuts move wise – IoD Wales
The IoD Wales believes the Welsh Assembly Government is acting appropriately in making its enforced budget reductions as soon as possible.
Institute of Directors regional director in Wales, Robert Lloyd Griffiths, said: “This is good, sensible house-keeping.”
As part of £6.2bn of cuts announced by the UK Treasury, WAG must save £162.5m from its budget.
The option to defer the cuts was offered by Westminster but, with more savings due in 2011-12, Business and Budget Minister Jane Hutt told AMs: “We have decided to take as much as we can of the 2010-11 budget reductions this year – without damaging frontline services, without taking money from our key priorities and without taking risks with the fragile economic recovery.”
Robert Lloyd Griffiths said: “This is a wise approach, rather than delaying the inevitable.
“It’s good that capital expenditure has been ring-fenced – that’s a positive – and the IoD has always been of the view that our present economic problems are addressed by spending cuts rather than tax rises.
“In Wales a few months ago, we may have preferred cuts to be carried out with a scalpel rather than a sword; however, our position changed a couple of months ago in favour of the sword because of the state the country found itself in.”
Ms Hutt said putting off reductions to next year would be the wrong course of action. She said: “It would mean that the challenge for 2011-12 would be even greater.”
Tags: economy, Institute of Directors, IOD, Jane Hutt, Robert Lloyd Griffiths, Welsh Assembly
