Telora
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TCNS News Summary
Senate passes Social Security reform
Senate passes Social Security reform
The Senate has passed the Social Security reform package proposed by President Brännare 61-24, after a marathon race to finish before Congress rises before the Christmas recess. The package, which will increase the Social Security age from 65 to 70 in increments over the next decade, as well as allowing richer individuals to choose to invest a portion of their Social Security commitments in private accounts, among other measures, is expected to be signed in to law before Christmas by the President. The package is expected to stabilise the Social Security Trust Fund, which had been expected to go bankrupt before 2025 in light of an ageing population and poor previous management.
The package will also see a number of reforms insisted upon by left wing parties being passed into law as well. These include a ban on future withdrawals from the fund to meet budgetary commitments, as has been attempted by previous Presidential administrations and a restructuring of the Social Security tax, to exclude lower-paid workers and end the upper earnings limit on it. These compromises are believed to indicate that the President may well have an easier job building a coalition behind welfare reform next year than had been previously expected.
The National Statistics Agency (NSA) is expected to rate the final bill tomorrow, before it suspends its Congressional review process for Christmas. Experts have said it is likely to rate the package as positive for the budget and overall fiscal position of the country; a key priority for President Brännare in his election campaign earlier this year. However, the intensity of the battle over the package demonstrates that this debate is far from decided in the favour of the Executive Mansion.
Federal Electric announces Christmas projections
Federal Electric, Telora's third largest company, has said that it expects to have a stronger than normal Christmas season this year in the domestic market, though it has warned overseas sales may well be impacted by conflict between Belmont and Coronado. The company has benefited from conflict in Jizhou driving down productivity there, as well as from a new factory in Telora coming on stream, enabling them to retire an older facility, driving down overheads and so helping them lower prices in the shops. It has said that its current capital investment programme, begun in 2007, is now at 'full maturity' and it will be reducing investment over the next few years, though not to pre-2006 levels.
FE has said that it expects the next year to see 'broadly steady' growth across the board, though it notes that it remains 'sensitive to geopolitical troubles in certain areas' and that it is aware that a number of its products may be classified as contraband in the process of embargoing weaponry. The company has said it will work with the Teloran and other governments to ensure that its exports go as undisrupted as possible.
The company is widely seen as a barometer of Telora's manufacturing base, producing a range of electrical goods such as washing machines and fridge-freezers, as well as electrical components for the automotive and ship-building sectors, railway stock and industrial components for the chemical industry. It has heavily invested in new factories and machinery since 2006 under the leadership of CEO Charles Lowestoft, after years of stagnation.
Other headlines
- Telor City Mayor breaks ground on new subway line, 3 months behind schedule
- Nidaros dockworkers vote against strike action over new pension plan
- Retailers report steady pre-Christmas trade; marginally up over last year
- Centrist Party to hold new policy forum in January
- International Law scholars to lobby CoN for new body to improve international law