Zambia took on debt to revamp a railway to Victoria Falls.AFP Zambia was once a model in Wall Street’s rush to issue debt for the world’s poorest nations, attracting bigger orders and lower interest rates than some more-developed countries. Less than a decade later, the Southern African nation is straining to pay back more than…
Photo by Melissa Walker Horn on Unsplash Wealth management platform Myprosperity has seen a 200% increase of debt recorded on its platform since the start of the year. As more Australians are having conversations about their financesduring the COVID-19 pandemic, Myprosperity now tracks $12 billion worth of debt on its platform, with an 80% increase…
Loading The energy regulator told retailers in March they must not disconnect any small business or residential customer who had contacted them about their payments, and that they could not refer anyone to debt collectors for unpaid bills. Those instructions were extended on Tuesday until the end of October. The Australian Energy Council, representing 22…
From: Canada Revenue Agency The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation, and is committed to supporting Canadians throughout it. The CRA understands that individuals and businesses might be dealing with difficulties in meeting their financial obligations, including paying tax debts they may have incurred prior to the crisis. The Canada Revenue…
So why dont most economists share the worries of so many conservative politicians, headline writers and ordinary citizens? Five reasons. The first is, these are extraordinary times. Im not sure Frydenberg is right in claiming the pandemic is “without doubt, the biggest shock this country has ever faced,” but its certainly one of them. And…
The Treasury is in talks with the UKs largest banks about an industry-wide plan to help tackle the tens of billions of pounds of bad debts expected under the governments light-touch coronavirus bounce back loans scheme. More than 1m of the UKs smallest companies have borrowed 33bn in just two months under the bounce back…
After the immediate virus crisis, he says that if interest rates remain low, the government consistently balances the budget and economic growth is about a trend 2.75 per cent, gross debt-to-GDP could be reduced by 1 percentage points a year. Frydenberg and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann have emphasised that the key to sustainable debt management…
Analysts are warning of a surge in defaults in consumer debt in the US if Congress fails to extend the programme of increased unemployment benefits that was put in place to ease the effects of the coronavirus outbreak. Lawmakers are locked in negotiations over further stimulus to replace the pandemic unemployment assistance payments, worth $600…
From Commentary July 24, 2020 July 24, 2020 5 minute read When the Menzies government took office in December 1949, Australias public debt stood at 120 per cent of GDP. By the time Robert Menzies retired, on Australia Day, 1966, that proportion had dropped below 50 per cent. With the Treasurer on Thursday announcing eye-watering…
When will it finally sink in? No-one really cares about the deficit or the national debt, least of all the millions of Australians now facing the very real threat of a long period of unemployment, personal hardship and crisis. As Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Finance Minister Matthias Cormann grimly fronted a media pack in Canberra,…