Australia&#39;s Costello Says Surplus Will Help on Interest Rates
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Australia&#39;s Treasurer Peter Costello said his forecast in May for aA$2.4 billion ($1.7 billion) budget surplus will help keep interest rates from rising.
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A FEW months ago Treasurer Peter Costello was telling Australians to go forth and procreate but he now says they should work harder to pay for their old age.
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THE decision by the US Federal Reserve to raise interest rates for the third month in a row would have little effect on the Reserve Bank of Australia&#39;s deliberations on monetary policy, economists said yesterday.
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MARK COLVIN: The Prime Minister, John Howard, is under pressure this afternoon to explain his claims that interest rates would be higher under a Labor government.
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Australia's opposition party chief signed an unusual public pledge to keep interest rates down if he wins the October 9 general election, declaring the issue "personal".
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Australia's conservative government turned to wild pigs and pensions on Tuesday to woo support, as a poll showed it slipping further behind the Labor opposition ahead of a November election.
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Prime Minister John Howard ramped up his soon-to-be-announced election campaign Sunday by offering Australia&#39;s senior citizens hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks.
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Australia&#39;s chief commodities forecaster, the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics, said Monday livestock exports will be nudged higher in the current economic year as overseas markets retain their appetite for Australian beef and lamb.
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The value of Australia&#39;s commodity exports is expected to hit $95 billion this financial year, with minerals and energy expected to drive the improvement.
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Prime Minister John Howard was telling porkies over claims interest rates would be higher under a Labor government, Opposition Leader Mark Latham said.
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The Reserve Bank of Australia said there is ``no pressing need&#39;&#39; for higher interest rates ``at this stage&#39;&#39; because the inflation rate has fallen, wage increases are contained and exports
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The Australian opposition's battered economic credibility received a boost as its big-spending tax plan won widespread plaudits, although a poll showed most voters prefer the conservative government's financial management.
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Only a few months after crying poverty, Finance Minister Ralph Goodale says last year&#39;s surplus topped $9.1 billion -- almost five times more than originally predicted.
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Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday said he was convinced that any temporary short-term pain would translate into long term gain for the country.
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OPPOSITION Leader Mark Latham said today he would be happy to debate both Treasurer Peter Costello and Prime Minister John Howard at the same time.
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The UK's public finances improve in October, with a surplus of Â£8.4bn on the widest measure of borrowing.
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Australian Treasurer Peter Costello raised the government&#39;s forecast budget cash surplus for the year ending June 30, 2005, to A$6.2 billion ($4.7 billion) because of increased company taxes.