Month: April 2019

Australia’s treasurer said he will unveil the government’s first balanced annual budget plan in a decade days before general elections are called.   The budget to be announced late Tuesday will be the conservatives coalition’s final major act before going to voters in May with the argument that they are better economic managers than the center-left Labor Party opposition.   Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 would achieve a surplus without increasing taxes.   “Tonight’s budget sets Australia up for the next decade,” Frydenberg told reporters on arrival at Parliament House.   “It builds a stronger economy and secures a better Australia for every Australian and we do that without increasing taxes,” he added.   Frydenberg also foreshadowed “congestion-busting infrastructure” to reduce commuting times in Australia’s largest and most congested cities.   The government also plans to provide tax breaks for low and middle-income earners.   Up to 4 million low-income Australians in a population of 25 million will receive one-off payments by July to help with rising energy bills.   A conservative government delivered balanced budgets for a decade before the global financial crisis hit in 2008. A newly elected Labor government then ran up a record deficit with economic stimulus spending.   Australia’s revenue has improved with rising prices for its biggest exports, coal and iron ore.   Opinion polls suggest that Labor will win the next election. Scott Morrison would become the sixth Australian prime minister since 2007 to fail …

President Donald Trump’s threat to shut down the southern border raised fears Monday of dire economic consequences in the U.S. and an upheaval of daily life in a stretch of the country that relies on the international flow of not just goods and services but also students, families and workers. Politicians, business leaders and economists warned that such a move would block incoming shipments of fruits and vegetables, TVs, medical devices and other products and cut off people who commute to their jobs or school or come across to go shopping. Let’s hope the threat is nothing but a bad April Fools’ joke,” said economist Dan Griswold at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University in Virginia. He said Trump’s threat would be the “height of folly,” noting that an average of 15,000 trucks and $1.6 billion in goods cross the border every day. “If trade were interrupted, U.S. producers would suffer crippling disruptions of their supply chains, American families would see prices spike for food and cars, and U.S. exporters would be cut off from their third-largest market,” he said. Trump brought up the possibility of closing ports of entry along the southern border Friday and revisited it in tweets over the weekend because of a surge of Central Americans migrants who are seeking asylum. Trump administration officials have said the influx is straining the immigration system to the breaking point. Elected leaders from border communities stretching from San Diego to cities across Texas warned that havoc would ensue …

The Rockefeller Foundation is changing the focus of its funding of projects to strengthen societies against modern pressures such as climate change, shifting away from preparing cities to a broader global view of the issue, its president said Monday. The change means it will stop financial backing of the 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) network — about $165 million over five years — that enabled more than 80 cities to hire chief resilience officers and develop action plans, Rajiv Shah told Reuters in an interview. The program has succeeded in pushing cities to think about how to cope with risks such as extreme weather and pollution, he said. “That work has been transformational in helping urban areas really address the challenges that are only going to get more intense as we go forward in time,” Shah said. Efforts supported by 100RC have helped Jakarta manage waste, protected Bangkok riverside communities from flooding and turned Parisian schoolyards into cool oases during heat waves, he said. The U.S.-based philanthropic foundation will provide a further $12 million this year to help the network transform into an independent organization. The foundation also plans to keep working with U.S. city mayors to find ways to boost jobs and economic opportunities while adapting to climate change, Shah said. “These are exceptional leaders who are taking forward and institutionalizing these efforts, with our continued support,” he said. On Monday, 86 staff in 100RC’s four offices — New York, London, Singapore and Mexico City — were told their jobs …

Kellogg is selling its iconic Keebler cookie brand and other sweet snacks businesses to Ferrero for $1.3 billion. The Battle Creek, Michigan-based Kellogg Co. says the brands in the deal generated sales of $900 million and profits of $75 million last year. Kellogg is also selling its Mother’s and Famous Amos cookie brands, as well as its fruit-flavored snack, pie crust and ice cream cone businesses. Kellogg acquired Keebler Foods, which was founded in 1853, in 2001 for $3.86 billion. It expects to use sale proceeds to pay down debt. Ferrero, an Italian confectionary company best known for its Nutella hazelnut cream, said Monday it will also acquire six U.S. manufacturing plants from Kellogg in the deal. Kellogg is among many U.S. food companies that have sold off brands in recent years to adapt to a consumer shift toward more fresh, less processed snacks and foods. The sale is expected to close by the end of July. …