Exporters urged to keep up pressure on exchange

Media Release
19 February 2007

Exporters urged to keep up pressure on exchange rate

Exporters need to keep highlighting the negative impact an overvalued exchange rate is having on their businesses says Wood Processors Association Chair David Anderson.

Mr Anderson took up the case of the Invercargill Bright Wood Sawmill which is threatened with closure and last week actively supported the suggestion by Finance Minister Dr Michael Cullen for a levy on mortgages to stem inflation pressures arising from the property sector.

“It was a real pity that when Dr Cullen’s proposed levy on mortgages was raised last week, as a way to pull back the value of the dollar, the immediate responses were to protect the individual home owner who consumes wealth rather than the exporter who creates it.

“A levy on mortgages may have some flaws – so does the current situation. There are other proposals which would achieve similar outcomes such as interest-linked savings schemes, but at the moment these ideas are not receiving the attention they should.

“I have received a great deal of support from exporters for the stand the Wood Processors Association has taken on this matter. Exporters need to be raising the issue on every possible occasion and demonstrating the effect of the dollar on their businesses. Frankly, we need some noise around this one. We need a Government and officials committed to looking for solutions not simply telling us that nothing can be done.”

Anderson praised the willingness of the Forestry Minister Jim Anderton, who had met with him and was sympathetic to the situation facing exporters.

“We now need the economic planners in Government turning their minds to the problem and giving the matter some priority. Dismissing the mortgage levy proposal last week did not make the export problem go away and Government and officials need to be very clear about that,” he says.

Ends

© Scoop Media