Chapter 927: Economic boom (1/2)

Chapter 927 The economy is booming

Since the beginning of the war, Arthur has never cared about the financial situation of the Australasian government.

It's not that Arthur doesn't pay attention to the country's finances, but judging from the current economic development of Australasia during the war, it is very difficult for the finances to be in deficit.

In 1936, Australasia's GNP reached an unprecedented 10.7335 billion Australian dollars. This was the first time in the 37 years since the founding of Australasia that its GNP exceeded 10 billion Australian dollars.

According to the current currency exchange rate, 1 pound = 1.87 Australian dollars = 19.33 new US dollars = 25.73 rubles = 27.34 island dollars = 191 francs.

10.7335 billion Australian dollars is equivalent to almost 5.7398 billion pounds, which has exceeded the UK's gross national product of 5.502 billion pounds.

If only the mainland is counted, Australasia's GDP ranked second in the world in mid-1937, second only to Germany, which had occupied a large amount of land.

The gross national product ranking of countries in the world is as follows:

First place: Commonwealth, total GNP 8.4283 billion pounds.

Second place: Germany, with a total GNP of 7.1778 billion pounds.

Third place: Australasia, with a total GNP of 5.7398 billion pounds.

Fourth place: France, total GNP 4.8435 billion pounds.

Fifth place: Russia, total GNP 4.3737 billion pounds.

Sixth place: The Great Lakes Republics, with a total GNP of 4.2331 billion pounds.

Seventh place: Italy, total GNP 1.8992 billion pounds

Eighth place: Island country, total GNP 1.7891 billion pounds.

It can also be seen from this ranking that the economic development of the old powers is relatively slow and cannot keep up with the development speed of the new powers.

If only the mainland is counted, the UK's GDP has been surpassed by Australasia and Germany, ranking third in the world.

Of course, France, the old colonial empire, was even more miserable. Even if France added the GNP of its colonies, it still lagged behind new powers like Germany and Australasia.

If only the gross national product of the country is calculated, France is even worse than Russia, and even ranks behind the Great Lakes Industrial Zone.

But this is good news for Australasia. With the exception of Germany, which is crazy about annexing other European countries, Australasia's economy can be said to be inferior to that of any country in the world.

At present, it has surpassed the mainland of all major powers except Germany, and the economy of Australasia can be said to be one of the most prosperous regions in the world.

And compared with the unstable economic environment in Germany, the economic environment in Australasia is relatively more stable, and the economic growth is gradual, healthier and more durable.

A large part of the reason for Australasia's rising national economy depends on the advancement of this war.

The vigorous growth of the military industry not only promoted the growth of Australasia's heavy industry, but also gradually increased Australasia's fiscal revenue.

At present, the arms trade with Europe alone is carried out every year.

It can bring in at least millions of Australian dollars in tax revenue to the government.

The expansion of heavy industry driven by the expansion of the arms industry, as well as the increase in people's income and more jobs in related industries, are also quite huge gains.

So far, the per capita annual income in Australasia has remained at around 187 Australian dollars, and the per capita income in some economically developed areas has even exceeded 210 Australian dollars.

Against this background, the life happiness index of the people of Australasia is very high. After all, income is what the people care about and rely on most.

If a ruler wants to make the people love him, the best way is to increase the people's income so that the people have enough wealth to enjoy a better life.

On this basis, we can reduce the burden on the people and allow them to have more time, etc.

If people's income cannot be increased, then simple burden reduction will have no effect. After all, if you don’t even have money, how can you be in the mood to go out for a walk?

Talking about the government's financial situation, thanks to the continuous development of the economy, the government's fiscal revenue is also constantly increasing.

In 1936, the government's annual fiscal revenue exceeded A$500 million, or A$522.5 million to be precise.

This is already a huge amount and a new high for the Australasian government's fiscal revenue.

However, compared with the government's fiscal expenditure, the new high in fiscal revenue is nothing.

In 1936, the government's fiscal expenditure exceeded A$600 million, reaching a terrifying A$632.5 million.

This also means that the government's fiscal deficit last year reached more than 110 million Australian dollars, which was the largest fiscal deficit in Australasia since its founding.

However, it is understandable that not only did World War II break out this year, Australasia also built a large amount of weapons and equipment and carried out a major military expansion.

Unlike World War I, weapons and equipment in World War II were still very expensive. In particular, the cost of aircraft and tanks was much higher than that of World War I. This is also the reason why the military expenditure of World War II was higher than that of World War I.

If you look at Australasia's current war gains alone, such expenditure is definitely a bargain.

Among the fiscal expenditures of 632.5 million Australian dollars, military expenditures were as high as 147 million Australian dollars, accounting for 23.3% of the total national financial expenditures.

The main expenses are for military expansion and the manufacture of weapons and equipment, because Australasia has not invested too many troops in the war, and the scale of military expenditure can still be controlled.

At least compared with the military expenditure of countries such as Britain, France, and Germany, Australasia's military expenditure is already small.

According to British intelligence, Britain's military expenditure last year was several times that of Australasia, and more than half of the funds were used for the manufacture and maintenance of weapons and equipment.

There is no way around it. Britain was not prepared for war before, so they naturally need to manufacture more weapons and equipment.

What's more, Britain also has an extremely large navy. Although the navy can bring unparalleled security to the British mainland, the cost of using these navies is also extremely huge.

If the British did not occupy half of the Persian Gulf, I am afraid that the loss of oil alone would be enough to increase Britain's fiscal expenditure by another 10%.

Britain is still good. Although the mainland has been bombed by Germany many times, it has at least not been occupied by the Germans.

More than one-third of France's territory is occupied by Germany, including the French capital Paris. After the Germans occupied these French territories, they naturally could not do nothing. Burning, killing and looting were indispensable, and the destruction of the French economy was naturally needless to say.

Apart from other things, on the day when the German army occupied Paris, at least tens of thousands of French women were raped by the German army. Fortunately, it has only been a few months, otherwise, there would be thousands of French-German children in Paris.

But it was also the cruel behavior of the German army that made the French people firm in their belief in resisting Germany.

If we say that the biggest change before and after the fall of Paris, France, is probably the people's support for this war.

Before Paris was broken, many French people still did not want to fight Germany, and even protests against the war broke out repeatedly.

But after the Germans' behavior was repeatedly publicized by newspapers, most French people began to support this war, at least they did not want their families to be deeply harmed by the Germans.

In the government's financial report in the new week, Arthur finally saw the current situation of the government's available funds.

Before the outbreak of the war, the available funds of the Australasian Treasury were about 433 million Australian dollars, which was the accumulated fiscal surplus of the government for so many years.

But the fiscal deficit last year was as high as 110 million Australian dollars, which resulted in the available funds at the beginning of this year being reduced to about 323 million Australian dollars.

This is not over yet. Nearly half of 1937 has passed. In the past six months, the government's finances are still in a state of high deficit.

As of May 15, the government's current fiscal revenue is 269.1 million Australian dollars, an increase of about 3% compared with the same period last year.

But the government's fiscal expenditure has also maintained a small increase. In five and a half months, 328.9 million Australian dollars have been spent.

This also means that in five and a half months this year, the government's fiscal deficit is as high as 59.8 million Australian dollars. It is precisely because of the fiscal deficit in the first half of this year that the government's available funds have been reduced to about 172.2 million Australian dollars.

According to the current annual fiscal deficit figures, this 170 million will only last for a year and a half at most.

More importantly, there is another premise for such a fiscal deficit, that is, Australasia does not use troops on a large scale.

Once Arthur decides to officially start fighting against the island nation, military expenses will surely rise steadily, and the fiscal deficit will become larger and larger.

If we take into account the national debts issued by the government in the early stages of the war and some projects, the government's available funds will have to be reduced to a certain extent.

However, the good news is that the public's support for this war is very high.

Especially under the premise that Australasia was forced to declare war on the island nation because of the attack, the public highly supported the war against the island nation, and even bravely participated in the war one by one, with the words fanaticism and bellicosity written on their faces.

If war bonds are issued to the country again, it can create at least hundreds of millions of funds for the government.

Coupled with the relatively healthy economy in Australasia, it is completely no problem to support the country to fight this war.

What's more, there is the support of the Royal Consortium. If the government really has no money, Arthur can also issue interest-free loans to the government, and the amount can even be as high as several hundred million.

It is no exaggeration to say that Arthur is now richer than the government. The Royal Consortium holds 49% of the shares of the Persian Gulf Oil Company, and the annual income from these shares alone is already very high.

What's more, the Royal Consortium has also invested in a large number of automobile and aircraft companies, as well as major military factories, factories and other enterprises, and the annual income is innumerable.

Although Arthur is not clear about the Royal Consortium's income last year, several years ago, the Royal Consortium's annual income had exceeded 200 million Australian dollars.

According to the current popularity of penicillin and the continuous growth of the military industry, the Royal Consortium's annual income should be around 300 million Australian dollars, which is equivalent to most of the country's annual fiscal revenue.

The government is also unlikely to actively enact monopoly laws to prevent the expansion of the Royal Consortium. In addition, Arthur has already taken the initiative to split up the Royal Consortium, so that the major consortiums are scattered like stars.

At present, the royal family's assets on the surface are already quite exaggerated. The Royal Bank alone can bring at least 30 million Australian dollars in net income to the royal family every year, and there are still hundreds of millions of Australian dollars in available funds.

This is not an exaggeration. As the largest bank in the entire empire, with the endorsement of the royal family and Arthur, the Royal Bank has become the most credible and popular bank in the entire empire.

What's more, the Royal Bank is the only bank in Australasia that has the right to print money, and almost half of the Australian dollars flow out of the Royal Bank.

Under such circumstances, it is difficult for the Royal Bank not to make money, and it can even count money while lying down.

In the whole of Australasia, there are only two institutions with the right to print money, namely the National Bank controlled by the government and the Royal Bank controlled by the royal family.

These two banks jointly form the Currency Issuance Committee, which is responsible for supervising the exchange rate of the Australian dollar and managing the issuance of the Australian dollar.

Among them, the Royal Bank is relatively pure, 100% controlled by the Royal Consortium, and Arthur is the only owner.

The National Bank is jointly held by the government and the royal family. The government holds 66% of the shares and has the control over the National Bank. The royal family holds 34% of the shares and does not participate in the operation of the National Bank. It just needs to wait for dividends every year.

Because the two banks have the right to issue Australian dollars, they are two unrivaled giants in Australasia.

However, because of Arthur's reputation, the Royal Bank is obviously more popular, occupying more than 50% of the market in Australasia's banking industry.

Below these two banks are the domestic Noble Union Bank, the Imperial Bank, and banks established by major foreign consortiums and other companies.

The Royal Consortium controls far more than the two currency issuing banks, and also owns 49% of the shares of the Noble Union Bank, 49% of the shares of the Imperial Bank, and 51% of the shares of the Industrial Development Bank.

If you have to describe the specific scale of the Royal Consortium, Arthur can't describe it. Because the Royal Consortium is so huge that it is impossible to describe it, any of its large companies will have the hope of competing for the top 500 in the world in the future.

Royal Bank, Persian Gulf Oil Company, Royal Ordnance Factory, Douglas Aircraft Company, Boeing, Mercedes-Benz, Pharmaceutical Group, Diesel Engine Factory, etc., if placed in the future, these will definitely be able to compete for the top 100 or even the top 50 in the world's top 500.

Because Arthur rarely squandered, the Royal Consortium had accumulated countless wealth over the years since its establishment.

Even if it was just the Royal Consortium controlled by the old Kent housekeeper, the funds that could be mobilized were at least 200 million Australian dollars.

If all other consortiums were included, Arthur could mobilize at least 500 million Australian dollars in a short period of time, which was equivalent to the annual fiscal revenue of Australasia.

This was also the reason why Arthur was not worried about the government's financial situation. If the government really had no money, the royal family could easily provide the government with an interest-free loan, and there was no need to worry about the problem of having no money.