New Year State of the Republic adress
Today, the King has adressed the Parliament, outlining the plans of his cabinet for the following year.
"New Year's celebration has ended, and with 2009 come new challenges, but also new hopes. While the Zablanian Robot Crisis rages on, strange things happen all over the archipelagos and terrorism seems on the rise, we must not give up our hope: hope for a better world, for a safer world, where we can all live out lives in peace.
The Republic's government has done its best to prepare for this year. I shall now present the planned budget for FY2009.
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INCOME (bln USD)
Income tax 2,8
Sales tax 2,2
Tarrifs 0,5
Vice tax 0,3
Fine, other minor srcs 0,2
Sale of FCS ships 0,008
ISCA dividend 0,026
Deficit spending 0,28
Total 6,314
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EXPENSES (bln USD)
Social security 1,6
Medical services 1,2
Education 0,9
Military 0,86
Police, firefighting 0,5
Infrastructure 0,7
Investment in industry 0,214
(Construction of tank factory 0,1
Subsidies for electronics industry 0,114)
ISCA 0,04
Establishment of a naval academy 0,1
Respresentative spending 0,1
Other 0,1
Total 6,314
As the honorable representatives can see, we have many great things planned for this year. While not approaching spectacular achievements of the OMSK pact in scope, they shall nevertheless be a great undertaking for a nation of our size.
First, industry. We shall invest a total of 214 million dollars in our domestic industry. Out of this, 114 million shall go towards supporting our domestic electronics industry. While small, our innovative ideas and researches have already contributed in a concrete way to the greatest endeavours of New Earth - our modest participation in the SPIRAL program is nevertheless a reason for pride, and should be an example to pursue.
Another 100 million dollars shall finance the construction of a vehicle factory that shall produce missile launchers for the Blackbeard program. These vehicles shall aid in the defence of the Central Sea, and the factory will provide employment for hundreds of workers, who shall also be form the basis of our domestic vehicle industry.
As the honorable Representatives no doubt are aware, a significant expansion of our domestic military force is planned. The Ministry Of Defence has been assigned funds for the following purchases:
- One JASD command vehicle
- One computerized JASD training center for officers and missile operators
- One fully functional JASD battery
In addition to this expansion of our defensive capabilities, the Ministry has been authorized to form the first fighter/training squadron of our airforce. For a sum of 115 million dollars, ten Yak-130 light aircraft shall be procured, and an airbase constructed on Paradiso Island. Our pilots are already underdoing training in Shroomania, and will return shortly, granting us the capability to police our own skies.
It is the government's hope that the Parliament shall approve these expenses, and help us build a new, stronger and more prosperous PeZookia."
ECONOMIC DATA RELEASED
The Ministry of Finance has released the complete economic data for FY2008:
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GDP by end of year: 65,3125 bln USD
Annual GDP growth: 4.7%
GDP per capita: 13 062
Inflation: 3.1%
Population below poverty rate: 16%
Total estimated population: 5 002 500
Total population growth: 0.05% (incl. immigration, emigration, live birth and deaths)
Life expectancy at birth: 59 male, 61 female
Total literacy rate: 94%
ISCA BEGINS FULL-SCALE PRODUCTION
After nearly four months of organization work and budgetary debates, the ISCA has placed the first work orders for new ships planned for FY2009. Shipyard all over ISCA nations have laid keels for a new generation of merchant ships.
"We are very optimistic", said the newly appointed ISCA director,"The ISCA will add nearly two megatonnes DWT to the world's shipping capacity. This will almost certainly result in vastly cheaper transport for all trading companies, thus bolstering trade amongst all nations."
When asked about the biggest ship purchase, the Director had this to say:
"Well, the Red Technocracy is the biggest purchaser from ISCA by far. They ordered 57 FCS ships this year, which translates to over half the total ISCA shipbuilding capacity."
Another question concerned the Nuclear Passenger Ship project announced earlier this year
"Yes, we are certainly going through with this - in fact, we've put off expanding our capacity because of this project. We really expect great things to come out of this: a testbed ship will be launched by the end of the year, and we'll be collecting data on its performance throughout FY2010. This is a revolutionary concept: passenger and cargo ships which can sail for years and years without refuelling, and generate enough power for very fast cruising speeds. They really have the potential to revolutionize merchant shipping, since such a ship would only be refuelled once or twice during its projected lifetime. Which is why the ISCA has comitted 450 million US dollars towards making this concept a reality, of course."
This is truly looking to be a revolutionary year for New Earth's merchant navies.