Tag: Budget

Biden to call for three-month suspension of federal gas tax as prices skyrocket

WASHINGTON, June 22, 2022 (AFP)   US President Joe Biden will ask Congress Wednesday to suspend the federal gas tax for three months as skyrocketing prices cause widespread anger among Americans just months before crucial mid-term elections. The White House wants to discontinue the tax of 18 cents per gallon (3.78 liters) until September and will call on US states, which also tax at the pump, to do the same to “provide direct relief to […]

Hong Kong unveils $22 billion budget for virus plagued economy

by Su Xinqi and Jerome Taylor HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong’s finance chief on Wednesday unveiled a costly HK$170 billion ($21.79 billion) budget, including tax breaks and consumer spending vouchers, as the city reels under its worst coronavirus outbreak to date. While rival finance centres emerging from pandemic isolation and reopening to the world, Hong Kong has found itself overwhelmed by the highly infectious Omicron variant after the city’s previously successful zero-Covid strategy […]

President Duterte signs P5.024-trillion national budget for 2022

(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte has signed the P5.024-trillion national budget for 2022 into law. The President’s signing came 15 days after Congress ratified the same. The budget includes a P50-billion funding for COVID-19 vaccines and  P50 billion for the Special Risk Allowances of medical frontliners. It also includes P22.9 billion for the improvement of health facilities and funding for the recovery of areas severely hit by Typhoon “Odette.” The Palace earlier said it was […]

Australia aims to vaccinate all adults by year’s end

  by Andrew BEATTY Agence France Presse CANBERRA, Australia (AFP) — Australia set a new target of vaccinating all willing adults by the end of 2021 on Tuesday, hoping to speed a glacial vaccine roll-out that threatens the country’s pandemic success story. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg — unveiling a free-spending, crisis-tinged budget — said the continuation of the country’s “roaring” economic recovery depended on “effective suppression of the virus”. To that end, he said, the conservative […]

Canada to roll out big spending in pandemic recovery budget

by Michel COMTE OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Canada is expected to channel funds into childcare, wage subsidies and other pandemic recovery measures as the government presents its new budget Monday ahead of possible snap elections. The 2021 budget is the first full fiscal plan from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s administration since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and is expected to outline Canada’s recovery as virus infections surge. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has promised Ottawa […]

New York to pay undocumented migrants pandemic relief

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — New York state will issue one-time payments of up to $15,000 to undocumented migrants who lost work during the pandemic under a multi-billion-dollar fund championed by progressive Democrats but opposed by Republicans. The payments, by far the largest of their kind in the United States, will help tens of thousands of people who arrived in America illegally and who are unable to collect unemployment insurance or federal stimulus checks. […]

Singapore rolls out new budget boost for virus-hit businesses

SINGAPORE (AFP) — Singapore on Tuesday unveiled a fresh multi-billion-dollar package to help pandemic-battered businesses and fund a vaccination drive, as part of the city-state’s annual budget. The coronavirus has plunged the financial hub into its worst-ever recession, with the crucial aviation and tourism sectors hit particularly hard as global travel ground to a halt. Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat announced the new package totalling Sg$11 billion (US$8.3 billion) as he unveiled the budget in […]

“House war” in the time of COVID: Congress opens budget special session with “2 House Speakers”

  (Eagle News) – The House of Representatives will open the special session called by President Rodrigo Duterte for the passage of the all-important proposed 2021 national budget on Tuesday, Oct. 13, with two lawmakers claiming to be the House Speaker. Both Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and his rival Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco who took his oath as Speaker after a House session staged by his allies at the Celebrity Sports Plaza, claimed to […]

Pres. Duterte warns Cayetano, Velasco: Resolve House Speakership impasse, or I’ll do it for you

  (Eagle News) – “Resolve this impasse, or I’ll do it for you.” A visibly disappointed and tired-looking President Rodrigo Duterte gave this warning to two lawmakers at odds over the House Speakership position– current House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Jay Velasco — on Thursday night, Oct. 8. In a televised address to the nation, the President said that he was forced to come out to say what he felt […]

US Senate passes stopgap to prevent government shutdown

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Senate passed a budget bill Wednesday that avoids an imminent government shutdown and extends funding weeks beyond the November 3 presidential election, after Democrats reached a deal with the White House and Republicans. The bipartisan text, which easily cleared the Senate 84 votes to 10 a week after it passed the House of Representatives, now goes to the White House. President Donald Trump would need to sign […]

Britain to reveal post-coronavirus recovery plan

by Roland JACKSON LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The British government will on Wednesday unveil a mini-budget to kickstart economic growth after the coronavirus shutdown, with a jobs scheme for young people and investment in infrastructure among the big ticket measures. Britain has suffered Europe’s deadliest outbreak of COVID-19 and a nationwide shutdown led to the worst economic contraction among the G7 leading industrialized states. In a statement to parliament at 1130 GMT, finance minister […]

US Senate Republicans present $1 trillion virus relief package

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday presented a $1 trillion emergency relief package to combat the economic turmoil caused by the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. The Republican-drafted text must now be examined by Senate Democrats before a date for a vote can be set. “This legislation takes bold action on four major priorities that are extremely urgent and very necessary,” McConnell told the Senate. “First, direct financial […]