Reserve Bank of Australia raises the cash rate target by 25 basis points to 4.35 per cent. It also increased the interest rate paid on Exchange Settlement balances by 25 basis points to 4.25 per cent.
Inflation in Australia has passed its peak but is still too high and is proving more persistent than expected a few months ago. The latest reading on CPI inflation indicates that while goods price inflation has eased further, the prices of many services are continuing to rise briskly. While the central forecast is for CPI inflation to continue to decline, progress looks to be slower than earlier expected. CPI inflation is now expected to be around 3½ per cent by the end of 2024 and at the top of the target range of 2 to 3 per cent by the end of 2025. The Board judged an increase in interest rates was warranted today to be more assured that inflation would return to target in a reasonabl.....
GANDHINAGAR, India, Nov. 6, 2023: Deakin University, a leading higher education institution in Australia and NSDC International (NSDCI), an enabler for global skilling solutions have come together to create a significant milestone for enhancing the skills of young India to thrive in today's ever-changing world of work. Prof Iain Martin, Vice Chancellor of Deakin University and Ved Mani Tiwari, CEO (NSDC), and MD (NSDC International) announced the launch of the Global Job Readiness Program (GJRP) in the esteemed presence of Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Education, and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India, the Hon Jason Clare MP, Minister of Education, Australia and Brendan O'Connor, Minister for Skills and Training, Government of Australia. This announcement was made today at the IIT Gandhinagar in Gujarat.
"India is emerging as a global economic powerhous.....
According to a recent Capterra survey, Indian businesses have reported a sharp rise in the frequency of software upgrades and modifications in 2023. Over three-quarters (76%) of the respondents stated that they have had to replace, modify, or right-size software more frequently since the beginning of 2023. This trend has led to an increase in software budgets for 2024, with most respondents allocating over Rs. 20.6 million for software expenses.
Security is a high priority for software buyers
The survey also revealed that security is a top priority for software buyers. Concerns about security and cyberattacks were cited by 56% of the respondents as one of the primary triggers for software purchases in the past year. Additionally, the need for productivity improvements (60%) and targeting new customer segments (55%) were among the other reasons reported by decision-makers. Cybersecu.....
October 18, 2023: The landmark five-year National Skills Agreement (NSA), which will take effect from January next year, was developed under principles agreed by National Cabinet and will embed national cooperation and strategic investment in our vocational education and training sector.
The Albanese Government is prepared to invest $12.6 billion to expand and transform access to the VET sector, support quality training and implement reforms to address critical skills needs. If States and Territories access all the Commonwealth funding available under the NSA, the combined investment by governments would exceed $30 billion.
In an historic first, a new National Stewardship model will coordinate strategic investment in skills across the economy, and support delivery of skills needed in national priority areas, as well as providing States and Territories with flexibility to meet local.....
Australians have rejected recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the nation's first people in the constitution through the establishment of a Voice to Parliament advisory body.
The ABC has projected the referendum will fail to meet the double majority needed for it to pass.
Nationally, a majority of voters said No to the proposed constitutional change.
The ABC has projected majority No votes in Tasmania, New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland, the Northern Territory, Victoria and Western Australia.
The ACT, which like the NT is only included in the national majority, is projected to be the only jurisdiction to return a Yes vote.
The Voice to Parliament would have been an advisory body with no power of veto but permanently enshrined in the constitution, meaning a future government of the day could not abolish it without holding another referendum.....
he referendum on the Indigenous Voice to parliament will be held on October 14. A national Essential poll, conducted September 27 to October 1 from a sample of 1,125, gave “no” to the Voice a 49–43 lead, a narrowing from a 51–41 “no” lead a fortnight ago.
This is the first time since June that “yes” has gained ground between two separate polls by the same pollster. On voter strength, 42% were hard “no” (steady), 30% hard “yes” (up two), 13% soft “yes” (up one) and 7% soft “no” (down one).
The Essential and Morgan polls are the best pollsters for “yes”, but it is still behind with these polls. “Yes” is much further behind with other polls, including a 20-point deficit in last week’s Newspoll.
There was a large difference between Resolve and Essential’s Voice polls in June, when Essential gave “yes” a 60–40 lead but Resolve had “.....
Despite worsening affordability easing the pace of rental growth in Australia, rental availability tightened in September, with vacancy rates falling to new record lows across the country.
CoreLogic’s Quarterly Rental Review for Q3 2023 shows rental values rose 1.6% over the quarter, down from the 2.2% rise seen in the June quarter and a full percentage point below the recent peak rate recorded over the three months to April (2.6%). This took the annual pace of growth down from a revised peak of 9.6% in the previous 12 months to 8.4% in the year to September.
However, a continued shortfall in rental listings saw the national vacancy rate reduce to a new record low of 1.1% in September as the total count of national rental listings fell to its lowest level since early November 2012.
CoreLogic Economist and report author Kaytlin Ezzy said there were a number of factors at play d.....
The RBA kept the cash rate on hold at 4.1% for the fourth successive month in October, citing ‘a more sustainable balance between supply and demand in the economy’, but also ongoing concerns about inflationary pressures and a heightened level of uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook.
The recent uptick in inflation, from 4.9% annually in July to 5.5% in August, wasn’t enough to prompt a further rate hike this month. With volatile measures stripped out, annual growth in the monthly CPI did continue to ease to 5.3% (down from 5.6%). However, clearly inflation remains high on the RBA’s risk radar. Higher fuel and energy prices, alongside persistently high services and rental inflation have the potential to trigger another rate hike later this year. Logically, the RBA will be waiting to see September quarter inflation data, released the week ahead of the RBA’s November mee.....
Australian retail turnover rose 0.2 per cent in August 2023, according to seasonally adjusted figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
This follows a 0.5 per cent rise in July 2023 and a 0.8 per cent fall in June 2023.
Ben Dorber, ABS head of retail statistics, said: "The modest rise in August shows consumers continued to restrain their retail spending.”
“In trend terms, retail turnover rose 0.1 per cent, and was up only 1.3 per cent compared to August 2022 - the smallest trend growth over 12 months in the history of the series.
“Considering how high inflation and strong population growth has added to retail turnover in the past year, the historically low trend growth highlights just how much consumers have pulled back in response to cost-of-living pressures.”
Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (+1.3 per cent) recorded t.....
Retailers continue to navigate a challenging environment in 2023 as the full impact of cost-of-living pressures and interest rate rises on consumer spending continues to unfold.
‘Mortgage stress’ has increased to its highest for 15 years since August 2008 with 29.2% of mortgage holders now ‘At Risk’ according to the Roy Morgan Mortgage Stress Indicator. The number of Australians ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress has increased by 642,000 over the last year as the RBA delivered twelve interest rate rises.
In addition, Consumer Confidence remains at record lows thanks in part to ongoing uncertainty around when the interest rate rise cycle will end. At 78.7, the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence weekly index has now spent 27 straight weeks below 80 – the longest period under 80 since the Index was first tracked weekly in 2008.
A fall in retail volumes and month-on-month sp.....
Describing the H-1B visa programme as a form of ‘indentured servitude, Indian-American Republican presidential aspirant Vivek Ramaswamy has vowed to gut the lottery-based system and replace it with meritocratic admission if he wins the race to the White House in 2024.
The H-1B visa, much sought-after among Indian IT professionals, is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise.
Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.
Ramaswamy himself has used the H-1B visa programme 29 times.
From 2018 through 2023, US Citizenship and Immigration Services approved 29 applications for Ramaswamy’s former company, Roivant Sciences, to hire employees under H-1B visas, Politico reported.
“Yet, the H-1B system.....
The Albanese Labor Government’s landmark legislation to deliver the single biggest investment in affordable and social housing in more than a decade has passed the Parliament.
The $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund will now be established, creating a secure, ongoing pipeline of funding for social and affordable rental housing.
This will be life changing legislation that will help generations of Australians.
The passage of this legislation delivers on the commitment the Albanese Government made to the Australian people before the election.
The Housing Australia Future Fund will help deliver the Government’s commitment of 30,000 new social and affordable rental homes in the fund’s first five years.
This includes 4,000 homes for women and children impacted by family and domestic violence and older women at risk of homelessness.
The Fund will also deliver the G.....