Australian PM Walks Middle Path on Post-Virus Support
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has warned against creating a dependency on COVID-19 support measures as economists urge the government to continue welfare schemes. The Grattan Institute has recommended the government spend between $70 billion and $90 billion on extra economic stimulus measures. The International Monetary Fund is calling for a gradual exit from support programs, with public investment to accelerate the recovery. Morrison says economists vary across the spending spectrum. “They want us to spend nothing and they want us to spend everything – the truth is going to be somewhere in the middle,” he said on July 2. He said the government would not let dependence on support stop businesses, and the federal budget, from bouncing back. “That will cost jobs and livelihoods,” Morrison said. “The other thing is,…
NEW DELHI—India’s number of coronavirus cases passed 600,000 on Thursday with the nation’s infection curve rising and its testing capacity being increased.
The 19,148 new cases reported in the past 24 hours raised the national total to 604,641, with nearly 100,000 of them in the past four days.
A total of 17,834 people have died so far due to the virus, according to India’s Health Ministry.
More than 60 percent of the cases are in the worst-hit Maharashtra state, Tamil Nadu state, and the capital territory of New Delhi.
However, the western beach of state of Goa, a popular backpacking destination, opened for tourism on Thursday with the state government allowing 250 hotels to reopen after more than three months. Tourists will either have to carry COVID-19 negative certificates or get tested on arrival.
The state has reported 1,387 positive cases with four deaths.
Many industries and businesses have reopened since the country eased its strict lockdown in early June, and Indians have cautiously returned to the streets. Schools, colleges, and movie theaters remain shuttered.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a live address Tuesday that the death rate is under control but the country is at a “critical juncture.” He urged more stringent enforcement of distancing and other health guidelines.
The Health Ministry said testing has been ramped up to more than 200,000 every day, with 8.8 million tests conducted so far. The recovery rate is 59.43 percent.
Focus News: India’s Virus Cases Surpass 600,000, Curve Rises
Australia’s Trade Surplus Rose 2Pct in May
Australia’s trade surplus rose 2.0 percent to $8.03 billion in May, as imports fell faster than exports. Exports dropped 4.0 percent to $35.7 billion, while imports dropped 6.0 percent to $27.7 billion, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed on July 2. Imports of consumption goods was steeply lower, down 14 percent to $8.9 billion. Exports of rural goods fell 10 percent to $3.6 million, driven by a 31 percent drop in cereal grains and cereal preparations. Coal export earnings dropped by 13.3 percent, or $635 million. “Australia’s international trade surplus has – on balance – been boosted by the net impacts of the pandemic,” Westpac economist Andrew Hanlan said in a note. “Imports are trending lower as domestic demand contracts. Goods exports, while not immune from the global…
