High Dollar Throws Kiwis Out of Work

High Dollar Throws Kiwis Out of Work

August 7, 2009

Media release from the National Distribution Union

An unstable dollar is costing many New Zealanders a job says National Distribution Union Secretary, Robert Reid.

“Employers keep telling us the high dollar is making life difficult for them,” he says.

“The export sector of the economy is being gutted because input costs keep rising and returns keep falling as the dollar rises. Occasionally the dollar drops back a bit but that never seems to last long.

Mr Reid says markets exist for our exports in forestry, manufacturing, agriculture and horticulture but we are not able to take advantage of them because of the volatility of our dollar.

“Currency should serve our economy, not drive it,” he says.

“We can’t afford to have currency traders around the world deciding whether New Zealanders have jobs or not.

“If dealing with this problem means taking back democratic control of our dollar then that is what we should do – its nonsense to keep pretending the market will magically set our currency at the right rate when it has clearly failed to do so.”

Mr Reid says the temporary job programmes the government has introduced are necessary but they will only help a few of the unemployed and do nothing to put business on a stable footing for the long term.

ENDS

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