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business
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‘Global crisis punches big
hole in Aussie budget’
SYDNEY: The global economic crisis and
China’s slowdown will punch a A$115 billion
(RM276 billion) hole in Australia’s budget over
the next four years, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
said yesterday.
But despite the budget being plunged
into deficit, Rudd flagged more government
spending in a new stimulus package, pledg-
ing “to move heaven and earth” to support
growth in the economy.
“The truth is the global recession in
general and the collapse in China’s growth in
particular has produced a US$115 billion fall
in Australian tax receipts to the government,”
he told reporters in Canberra.
“That figure equals about half the gov-
ernment’s total tax receipts in a given year,
although of course that figure ... is spread
across the forward estimates (covering four
years).”
Last May the budget had been forecast to
be A$21.7 billion (RM52.08 billion) in surplus.
But the gravity of the global crisis provided
the country with a stark choice of either act-
ing to boost the economy or “allowing the
jobless queue to grow even longer,” he said.
“This government will intervene,” he said,
Asian airlines trim down for
expected hard landing
SINGAPORE: Asian airlines are cutting routes
and taking other measures to avoid flying half-
empty planes during a travel slump caused
by the global economic crisis, analysts and
industry players say.
With most projections saying the world
economy will worsen before it starts to recover,
airline job cuts could come next, analysts said.
Carriers are also expected to seek alliances
and other forms of cooperation to ride out the
turbulence whipped up by a global financial
storm that originated in the United States, the
world’s biggest economy, they added.
Singapore Airlines (SIA), one of Asia’s ma-
jor carriers, has announced the suspension of
some international flights affecting routes to
India, Southeast Asia, the US and Europe.
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dismissing opposition objections to more
spending. “We will do so decisively with fur-
ther action to support jobs and growth.”
The government, which pumped A$10.4
billion (RM24.96 billion) into the economy in
December to boost consumer spending, will
announce a second stimulus package in the
new parliamentary session beginning today,
he said.
The projected tax receipt loss of A$115
billion is A$75 billion higher than the shortfall
estimated in the government’s mid-year
outlook three months ago.
The further drop includes A$50 billion
(RM120 billion) in company tax receipts, A$13
billion in income tax, A$10 billion in sales tax
and A$2 billion in other assorted taxes.
Globally, six of Australia’s top 10 trading
partners are in recession and the halving
of China’s growth alone would result in a
A$15 billion loss to Australia’s economy in
2009/2010, Rudd said.
Demand in China and other Asian coun-
tries for Australian resources such as coal and
iron ore had underpinned an economic boom
for a decade, allowing a long series of budget
surpluses. – AFP
Japanese carriers Japan Airlines (JAL) and
All Nippon Airways said they were slimming
down by suspending or reducing flights and
switching to smaller planes.
In Australia, national airline Qantas
grounded 10 aircraft and cancelled plans to
lease two new planes in November. It halted
all planned domestic growth for both Qantas
and budget offshoot Jetstar.
Hongkong carrier Cathay Pacific is also
under severe pressure after passenger num-
bers dropped 0.3% year-on-year in December
despite an aggressive marketing campaign,
following a 2.2% drop in November. The
airline’s revenue manager Tom Owen said it
had been forced to cut ticket prices to keep
December figures respectable. – AFP
theSun | TUESDAY FEBRUARY 3 2009
briefs
Boeing delivers
77th 777 to SIA
KUALA LUMPUR: The Boeing Company
and Singapore Airlines reached an his-
toric milestone last Friday with the
delivery of the airline’s 77th 777, which
also is its 19th 777-300ER.
Singapore Airlines began its relation-
ship with the Boeing 777 in December
1995, when the airline initially ordered
28 of what has become the most popular
intermediate twin-aisle airplane in the
world, with a market share of more than
60%, the company said in a statement
from Seattle, United States yesterday.
The airplane delivered last Friday in-
creases Singapore Airlines’ fleet of Boe-
ing airplanes to 91, with an additional 20
787-9 Dreamliners on order. – Bernama
20mil migrant workers
out of job in China
BEIJING: About 20 million migrant workers
in China have lost their jobs or are unable to
find work due to the economic downturn, a
top official said yesterday.
“Indeed, quite a large share of the rural
migrant workers have lost their jobs,” Chen
Xiwen, a senior rural planning official told a
briefing in Beijing.
The National Bureau of Statistics’ figures
marked a huge increase from about six mil-
lion recorded just a month ago.
The plight of the migrant workers is
monitored carefully by the government,
which is worried about the potential for
social unrest. – AFP
South Korean exports
in record plunge
SEOUL: South Korea’s exports plunged
by a record one-third in January from a
year earlier as demand dropped sharply
in major overseas markets including
China, the government said yesterday.
The worse-than-expected figure
highlighted the damage the global
economic downturn is doing to the
export-dependent economy.
Exports last month were worth
US$21.7 billion (RM78.12 billion), a year-
on-year drop of 32.8% and the steepest
decline since South Korea started an-
nouncing monthly tallies in 1980.
Imports decreased 32.1% to US$24.6
billion (RM88.56 billion)to leave a trade
deficit of US$2.97 billion (RM10.69
billion), according to the Ministry of
Knowledge Economy. – AFP
AirAsia to have six more
oriental destinations
SEPANG: AirAsia Bhd will introduce six
new destinations to the China region by
year-end, chief executive officer Datuk Seri
Tony Fernandes said yesterday.
He said the new destinations would be
Tianjin, Chengdu, Chongqing and Xian in
China and Taipei and Kaoshiung in Taiwan.
Currently, AirAsia flies to Guangzhou, Guilin,
Haikou, Hangzhou and Shenzhen in China
and Hongkong and Macao.
Fernandes said flights to Tianjin and
Taipei were expected to be available by the
first half while Chengdu and Chongqing in
the second half and Xian by end of the year.
“From our review we found out that China
was phenomenonly strong for us in 2008,”
he said. – Bernama
Asia stocks slide as
company outlooks darken
HONGKONG: Asian stocks fell yesterday,
with forecasts of corporate earnings
slashed as the global economy rapidly
deteriorates, steering investors towards
the yen and US dollar, which hit a two-
month high against the euro.
Major European stocks were ex-
pected to open as much as 1.2% lower,
according to financial bookmakers, with
the focus on expectations for poor cor-
porate results. From the auto industry
to technology firms, companies are
lowering their outlooks because of the
worsening environment for business
and consumer spending. – Reuters