Australia

Yin
Company tax revenue would plunge by A$50 billion ($32 billion) in the next four years ass exports plunge because of the rapid decline in economic growth among Australia's largest trading partners - China, Japan and the United States. Revenue from income tax and other taxes would also plummet.

IMF predicts that Australia's economy was likely to contract by 0.2 percent in 2009, delivering Australia's first recession since 1991.

Oz Minerals Ltd, struggling to sell off mines and refinance debt, will take a A$100 million charge for the second half due to negative price adjustments caused by falling metals prices. Failure to make the payment could force Oz, whose shares have not traded since late November, into bankruptcy.

Second stimulus plan will plunge the annual budget into a A$22.5 billion ($14.2 billion) deficit - 1.9 percent of gross domestic product - for the current fiscal year ending June 30, the prime minister said.

The government on Tuesday raised its jobless forecast to 7 percent for the year ending June 30, 2010, from the current rate of 4.5 percent.

Yang
Australia's leader unveiled a new stimulus package Tuesday to try to shield the economy from the global downturn, promising 42 billion Australian dollars ($26 billion) in spending. The package comes on top of one launched late last year worth A$10.4 billion ($7.4 billion). The plan aimed to support 90,000 jobs - through a combination of creating new positions and saving existing jobs - while boosting economic growth by half a percentage point to 1 percent in the current fiscal year.The plan also aims to turn an economic contraction in the following year to 0.75 percent growth, government documents said.

6 Feb 09
Australia's central bank on Friday slashed its growth and inflation forecasts while warning that the unemployment rate will rise as shrinking global demand for mineral and energy exports undermines the national economy.

The Reserve Bank of Australia said in its latest quarterly statement that it expects gross domestic product growth to almost stall, slipping to a pace of 0.25 percent in the 12 months through June, before improving slightly to 0.5 percent in the year ending December.
The forecasts are a major downward revision from the bank's November projections of 1.5 percent growth for the current fiscal year through June and 1.75 percent for the calendar year.