First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has called on the UK government to invest £80bn to “kick start the economy” after lockdown.
The Scottish government wants to see a stimulus package worth 4% of UK GDP to “deliver an investment-led recovery” in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.
It also wants the value added tax rate (VAT) to be cut to 15% for six months.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned of a fiscal “thunderclap” in the wake of the pandemic.
But he has pledged not to use austerity policies to tackle it and said he would model his approach on that of former US President Franklin D Roosevelt, whose “New Deal” programme of reforms helped the United States recover from the Great Depression in the 1930s.
The Scottish government has published a paper setting out 10 requests for UK ministers in dealing with the looming recession, including a call to “avoid a return to the austerity of the past” and focus on reducing inequality.
Ms Sturgeon said the proposals were “ambitious but also practical and sustainable”, and would “benefit not just Scotland but the whole of the UK”.
Scottish ministers want to see a fiscal stimulus package worth 4% of UK GDP – or £80bn – as well as “major investment in low-carbon, energy efficiency and digital infrastructure”.
This would include support for consumers and businesses through tax cuts, cash grants to individual households, a public sector investment programme to focus on green technology, and an extension of wage subsidy schemes for the hardest hit sectors.
As part of this Scottish ministers want the standard rate of VAT levied on goods and services to be cut from 20% to 15% for six months post-lockdown, and to 5% for the hospitality sector.
This could cut prices for shoppers, and the paper said this would be “one of the quickest ways to provide an additional spending boost to support the sectors of retail, hospitality, leisure and tourism that have been most impacted by the lockdown”.
They have also called for a “jobs guarantee scheme” for young people, echoing the recommendations of an advisory group which said 16 to 25-year-olds must be offered “secure employment”.
Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said the virus had caused “the biggest economic shock of our lifetimes”, hitting the most vulnerable in society disproportionately.
She said the UK government’s fiscal policies were “still key” in determining Holyrood’s budget, calling for “bold, practical steps which would provide an immediate boost to our economy, protect existing jobs and deliver new ones”.
Ms Forbes also called for Holyrood to be given additional fiscal powers, saying Scotland could be at a “severe disadvantage” without more control over the economic recovery.
The UK government says it has already introduced emergency tax and spending measures worth an estimated £133bn, with its jobs retention “furlough” scheme covering more than a quarter of the workforce.
Mr Johnson has pledged not to use austerity policies to balance the books, instead saying that “this is the moment for a Rooseveltian approach to the UK”.
He is to unveil a spending programme in a speech on Tuesday which Number 10 has dubbed “build, build, build”.
The prime minister told Times Radio: “The country has gone through a profound shock. But in those moments you have the opportunity to change and to do things better.
“We really want to build back better, to do things differently, to invest in infrastructure, transport, broadband – you name it.”
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in the base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 172.18 points at 23,383.35.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 34.99 points at 40,826.72. The S&P 500 index was up 10.56 points at 5,564.69, while the Nasdaq composite was up 74.84 points at 17,470.37.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.55 cents US compared with 73.59 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up $2.00 at US$69.31 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up five cents at US$2.32 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$40.00 at US$2,582.40 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$4.20 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
