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UK unveils new budget with tax hikes of 40 bln pounds

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UK unveils new budget with tax hikes of 40 bln pounds

2024-11-01 02:43 Last Updated At:03:17

The Labour Party government unveiled its first budget on Wednesday, outlining plans to raise taxes by 40 billion pounds a year.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves presented the budget in the House of Commons, marking Labour Party's first budget since returning to power in July after 14 years.

Despite previous assurances not to raise taxes on working people, the chancellor announced a rise in employers' National Insurance (NI) contributions from 13.8 percent to 15 percent, effective April 2025. Also, the threshold at which employers begin paying NI for employees will be reduced from 9,100 to 5,000 pounds annually.

Together, these changes are projected to generate 25 billion pounds per year for the government.

Capital gains tax will also see an increase, with the lower rate rising from 10 percent to 18 percent and the higher rate from 20 percent to 24 percent, Reeves said.

The national minimum wage for full-time workers aged 21 and over will rise by 6.7 percent to 12.21 pounds an hour, while that for 18 to 20-year-olds will rise from 8.6 to 10 pounds an hour.

Additional tax changes include higher taxes on smoking, the introduction of VAT on private school fees, and the abolition of the non-dom tax regime beginning in April 2025.

In her budget statement, Reeves stressed the importance of investment, saying that the government will deliver "a boost to public investment by over 100 billion pounds over the next five years across roads, rail, schools and hospitals whilst keeping debt on a downward path."

Analysts note that the high debt burden and global economic uncertainty would continue to pose significant challenges for UK fiscal policies.

There are also concerns among the public that the Labour Party's commitment to increasing spending on healthcare and other social services may be difficult to achieve fully amid current fiscal pressures.

UK unveils new budget with tax hikes of 40 bln pounds

UK unveils new budget with tax hikes of 40 bln pounds

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China's marine economy sustains stable growth in Q1-3

2024-10-31 22:08 Last Updated At:22:37

China's marine economy showed steady progress in the first three quarters of 2024, with a gross ocean product of 7.7 trillion yuan (more than 1.08 trillion U.S. dollars), a 5.4 percent year-on-year increase, according to the data released by the Ministry of Natural Resources on Thursday.

Approved sea-use areas grew 6.7 percent year on year, involving over 740 billion yuan (nearly 104 billion U.S. dollars) of investment in marine projects.

Marine energy production remained stable, with crude oil and natural gas output up by 5.9 percent and 8.8 percent respectively, and offshore wind power generation surged by 29.5 percent.

The output of domestic marine aquatic products rose over 4 percent.

Shipbuilding sustained its growth trend, with new orders, completed vessels and on-hand orders soaring over 45 percent, 31 percent and 31 percent from the same period of last year, respectively, keeping China in the lead in the global shipbuilding sector.

China's marine economy sustains stable growth in Q1-3

China's marine economy sustains stable growth in Q1-3

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