The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) is in dispute with The Guv, Tito Mboweni. NUMSA is angry with The Guv, because he did not meet them to get a memorandum. Apparently it had been agreed that The Guv would come get the memo, but then declined to when NUMSA showed up at the Reserve Bank last week Thursday 28th May 2009. NUMSA is calling for interest rate cuts. If the interest rate is cut what would it mean for you?
- Car finance could get cheaper
- Your home loan should decrease
- Short term loans might get cheaper
NUMSA is calling for these interest rate cuts because they are opposed to the policy of inflation targeting. The ANC has responded by saying that NUMSA marching was 'not helpful'. NUMSA wants to continue to march against the Reserve Bank calling for more aggressive interest rate cuts. They are not alone in their calls, however it is interesting to see folks on both the left and the right of economics calling for the same thing. Folks with massive mortgages who are over extended on their debt are also calling for more aggressive rate cutting, along with a workers union.
The NUMSA mini national congress that was held from the 11th to the 14th of May 2009 resolved to push for radical changes to South Africa's macro-economic framework. There were worries before the election that there would be a leftist shift in government policy, but it seems that it is business as usual for the new government. NUMSA however said that their next fight would be to bring down banking charges and lending rates, both of which will have a more real impact on putting more money in the pockets of the public than aggressive interest rate slashing which will tend to favour those who own homes rather than the marching masses.