Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan warned the nation faced a “hard” and “unpopular” budget this month as the government attempts to deal with the global recession in a responsible manner.
Swan refused to guarantee the May 12 budget would keep tax cuts for high earners due to take effect in July that were a major campaign commitment for the center-left Labor government when it was elected in late 2007.
“There are hard choices and there will be decisions that will be taken which won’t be popular,” Swan told ABC television when asked about the tax cuts.
“But the government will take the unpopular decisions in the interests of ... supporting jobs, stimulating our economy now [and] putting in place the long term investments for the future so we can maximise opportunities when the world economy recovers,” he said.
The government would also ensure its spending commitments — which include more than A$50 billion (US$35 billion) in economic stimulus — were fiscally sustainable in the long term, he said.
Swan predicted a surplus of US$21.7 billion in 2008-2009 when he delivered his last budget but said in February that the global financial crisis had punched a US$115 billion hole in government revenue.
He said yesterday that the revenue shortfall was now “substantially worse” but would not confirm reports it had reached US$200 billion.
The treasurer said the financial crisis was forcing Australia into temporary deficit but he planned to return the budget to surplus in the medium term once the economy improved.
The government is widely tipped to unveil new economic stimulus measures in the budget centred around major infrastructure projects.
It will also revise its economic growth forecasts down and unemployment expectations up to reflect the impact of the financial crisis, which Prime Minister Kevin Rudd conceded last month had plunged Australia into recession.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
RSS