The federal government has been warned against sharp spending cuts and tax increases by a Reserve Bank of Australia board member, ahead of a rumoured cabinet expenditure review committee meeting today.
RBA board member John Edwards told The Australian Financial Review Edwards signalled the government’s fiscal strategy would have bearing on the upcoming interest rate decision.
“The stance on fiscal policy is always a consideration for monetary policy,” he said, as quoted in The Australian Financial Review.
Australia’s economic growth rate is currently below the trend level of 3%. In the year to June, the inflation rate was 2.4%.
Edwards’ comments came after Treasurer Chris Bowen signalled, last Friday, he would reveal further spending cuts and tax increases, as the government continues to push for a return to surplus.
Boost Juice to focus on Asia for earnings kick
Multi-national juice franchise Boost Juice is turning its attention to Malaysia and Singapore, as it looks to open more stores to drive profit growth.
Speaking The Age’s Business Day, Retail Zoo (the parent company of Boost) chief executive Scott Meneilly said comparable store growth in Australia had started to slow since the early days of the juice company, with growth rates now around 3% to 4%.
“For us that’s actually fantastic because then it’s moved away from being a fad brand and something just going crazy for the moment, to good continued sustainable growth and that’s what we look for and want to be part of consumers’ every-week habits,” Meneilly told Fairfax.
Boost is looking to open another 18 stores in Malaysia in the next 18 months and another 20 plus stores in Singapore.
Despite the maturing market in Australia, Meneilly says Retail Zoo is planning to open another 36 new stores in the next three years thanks to a 5% drop in internal costs.
Shares flat after flat offshore leads
The Australian share market has opened weaker today, ahead of Federal Reserve Bank meetings later this week in various countries and weak leads from offshore markets last week.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 2.4 points or 0% to 5,044.4 at 12.00 AEST.
