The government has agreed to adjust expenditure down owing to the present economic climate‚ President Jacob Zuma said on Friday. Addressing black professionals in Pretoria‚ Zuma said the global economy continued to experience challenges that affected the South African economy.“Currencies of emerging markets have become weak and fluctuate widely. Prices of gold‚ platinum‚ coal and other minerals that we sell to the rest of the world have dropped significantly and continue to be low.“Our economy is also affected by internal constraints such as the energy shortage‚ labour instability at times‚ skills shortages and also the structure of the economy‚ which is still racially-skewed in ownership‚ management and control‚” the president stated.He noted that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank were predicting that the South African economy would grow by less than one per cent this year.“Due to this subdued economic performance‚ on the 13 January we decided to review and revise the fiscal framework that was published in October last year.“We have agreed to adjust expenditure down and we have discussed and agreed the specific measures by means of which this will be achieved‚” Zuma added.“The situation is quite serious and requires that we all play our part to remove constraints to growth‚ while also continuing with the tasks of economic transformation.“On the government‚ side cost containment measures are being introduced and all accounting officers and managers will ensure compliance.“Public funds must be spent on the core business of government‚ which is to deliver a better life for all our people‚” Zuma said.He added that the Budget that Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan would table on February 24 would set out more details of the collective decisions that Cabinet had taken to boost economic growth while promoting fiscal consolidation and prudence.“We shall do all of this without stopping infrastructure projects and without cutting pro-poor social programmes.”..