Economic woes ‘must not erode pay deals’

TRADE union leaders last night warned the Government that they cannot solve the country’s financial problems by weaseling out of agreements on pay or tax cuts.

The warning came as yet another economic assessment, this time from the International Monetary Fund, cited a sharp deterioration in the national finances and warned against rapidly increasing government spending.

The IMF economic audit for 2002 urged a cautious approach to phasing in the pay awards made by the recent benchmarking report. It also recommended that future national wage agreements should not include commitments on tax cuts.