Employment and growth What, then, are the policies required to change course in terms of employment and growth: 1. Fiscal consolidation, by which we mean:  -  Reduce the deficit to redirect downward the government debt ratio, to reduce long-term interest rate, to promote investment.
Special care should be taken that the 2003 budget will indeed result in a deficit no higher than 3%, as the government decided. -  Restructure government spending to increase infrastructure investment, cut the government wage bill, arrest the increase in defense spending, and implement series of programs to divert potential employees from welfare to work.