I think it is absurd, not amusing, that many ministers are aware of the fact that a cut in employment would mean higher efficiency of government administration, higher quality of services and higher wages, but readily use one and the same pretext: “why should I be the one to do the dirty job when others have even bigger excess work force.” The impact of such policy on inflation is obvious as growth in regulated prices contributed 3.6 percentage points to the 4.2% overall growth in prices, of which: prices of electricity by 1.08%, communal services by 0.71%, cigarettes by 0.68%, oil derivates by 0.50% and medicaments by 0.10%.
Moreover, there is rising concern that the growth of East Asian economies, which has been well-sustained so far, may slow at least temporarily, influenced by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). In this situation, exports and also industrial production are expected to remain virtually level for the time being.