Infrastructure

It’s a significant move from the government, which has recently faced – and largely resisted – calls to provide more economic stimulus to counter lukewarm growth at home and increasingly worrying headwinds overseas. RELATED: Frydenberg explains why economy does not need more stimulus Last month the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised its forecast for Australia’s economic growth in 2019 down to 1.7 per cent. Global growth was downgraded too, and the IMF advised countries to invest more in infrastructure. RELATED: Growth falls to lowest rate in a decade Tonight’s announcement, which Mr Morrison will deliver in a speech to the Business Council of Australia’s annual dinner, is a large step in that direction. The $3.8 billion figure covers the four-year forward estimates period. About half of it – $1.78 billion – will come in the next 18 months. In total, $2.72 billion in existing infrastructure spending is being accelerated, and … [Read more...] about Government to bring forward infrastructure spending to help stimulate the economy

Dr Lowe told the government’s Economics Committee in Canberra this morning the Australian economy was at a “turning point”, as he outlined the RBA’s latest forecasts. Those forecasts include a prediction that economic growth will be lower than previously expected. The RBA now predicts GDP growth of 2.5 per cent this year, rising to 2.75 per cent next year. Inflation will remain below the RBA’s target for some time, unemployment will stay above 5 per cent, and upward pressure on wage growth will continue to be “quite modest”. Dr Lowe blamed the revisions on weak consumption growth at the domestic level and the “major uncertainty” internationally as a result of the trade war between China and the United States. “It has become increasingly clear that the extended period of unusually slow growth in household incomes has been weighing on household spending,” he said. He said caps on wage growth in the public sector were … [Read more...] about RBA Governor Philip Lowe appears before parliamentary committee in Canberra

A delegation led by Consul General of Singapore in Chennai Pong Kok Tian called on IT and Industries Minister K.T. Rama Rao here on Tuesday and discussed opportunities for Singapore firms to invest in various sectors, including information technology, urban infrastructure, pharma and tourism.The Minister highlighted to the delegation the investor-friendly policy measures of the State government and how Telangana had emerged as a favourite destination for globally well-known firms over the past five years. He assured the government’s assistance to companies desirous of setting up their facilities in the State, a release said. Proposing a meeting with the heads of Singapore companies looking for opportunities to invest in Telangana, Mr. Rao said Singapore’s Surbana Jurong was preparing the master plan for Hyderabad Pharma City. He urged the Consul General to visit Telangana’s industrial parks and start-up incubators such as T-Hub to understand the ecosystem that exist … [Read more...] about Singapore delegation meets KTR

From coyotes camping out in Queens bars to giant snails eating houses in Florida to llamas roaming the streets of Phoenix, there’s no shortage of sensational news featuring wild animals infiltrating our cities. But these brilliant ever-adapting creatures are also finding new ways to live among us humans, and some cities are redesigning to accommodate them. The old way of living with animals meant forcing them out of their habitats so we could build ours, according to Tristan Donovan, the author of Feral Cities: Adventures with Animals in the Urban Jungle. But our relationship with the wild kingdom has evolved. There are populations of creatures coexisting somewhat peacefully with humans—even thriving, like feral flocks of parrots and gangs of urban baboons—yet still a lot of work to do when it comes to animal-human relations. Advertisement I talked to Donovan about how skyscrapers can be designed to save migrating birds, how LA’s urban design is forcing … [Read more...] about How Wild Animals And Cities Are Adapting To Each Other

Video PlayerClose TOKYO, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- Japan needs to compile a "large-scale" supplementary budget amid an "uncertain" economic outlook and public anxiety, Toshihiro Nikai, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), said Tuesday. Nikai, who holds the LDP's No. 2 post after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, said that an extraordinary budget of more than 10 trillion yen (92 billion U.S. dollars) is necessary for the current fiscal year through March, to underpin what he sees a potentially shaky economy. "As uncertainty grows about the economic outlook, the government cannot remove the public's anxiety without a large-scale supplementary budget," Nikai told a news conference on the matter. In the wake of a number of natural disasters pummeling the country recently, including Typhoon Hagibis, the most powerful to hit Japan in decades, wreaking havoc in October, Nikai said the supplementary budget was necessary for post-disaster infrastructure building and reconstruction … [Read more...] about Japan needs to compile extra budget of over 92 billion USD amid economic uncertainty: LDP secretary general