© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Shoppers carry their purchases across a street in Sydney’s central shopping district, March 15, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Reed
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s centre-left Labor government said on Monday it would include A$14.6 billion ($9.84 billion) over four years in the federal budget for cost of living relief for families and businesses, which it promised would not stoke inflation.
The plan is designed to directly ease price pressures and inflation, the federal government said, which has eased in the first quarter but still sits near 30-year highs of 7.0%.
“The centrepiece of the budget … will be cost-of-living relief that doesn’t add to inflation,” Treasurer Jim Chalmers said in a statement, ahead of Tuesday’s federal budget.
“People are under the pump. We’ve carefully calibrated and designed this Budget so that it takes pressure off the cost-of-living rather than add to it.”
The government is set to unveil in the budget financial assistance for more than 5 million low-income families, small businesses and pensioners struggling with high power bills.
Chalmers has repeatedly stated his budget would be restrained on spending so as not to add to inflationary pressures, while also giving some relief, after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) last week stunned markets with a rate rise, defying trader expectations for an extended pause.
The RBA on Friday warned that risks to inflation were on the upside given low productivity growth, rising energy prices and a surge in rents.
The latest relief measures come after the government set aside A$11.3 billion for wage rises for aged care workers over four years, while announcing an additional 5% tobacco tax and A$2.4 billion in more tax on oil and gas producers.
Australia’s deficit is expected to shrink sharply, the budget is expected to show, as its coffers bulge with tax windfalls from commodity exports, yet the outlook will be a sober one as fiscal challenges loom.
($1 = 1.4830 Australian dollars)
Read More
The Australian government has promised a budget of $10 billion over the next decade to help ease the rising cost of living in the country.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has promised that this money will be used to provide tax relief for up to 11.5 million hardworking Australians. Low- and middle-income earners will be able to receive up to $1080 in their tax return, while the top 10% of earners will benefit from tax cuts worth more than $7000.
The government has promised to put an additional $3.8 billion over three years into childcare initiatives, with 270,000 families set to benefit from this. Furthermore, aged pensions and disability payments will increase by $75 a week from the start of July.
The government is also proposing to put $7 billion into infrastructure projects such as roads, rail, public buses and communications networks. Additionally, $1.3 billion has been allocated to mental health funding, while those suffering from rare diseases will have access to $1 billion in new medicines.
The budget is aimed at providing relief to Australians struggling to keep up with the rising cost of living, while at the same time investing in infrastructure to provide jobs and stimulate economic growth.
It remains to be seen if the proposed budget measures will be enough to improve the lives of Australians, but the government has demonstrated its commitment to helping ease the burden of rising costs.
