Rise of Australia

Chapter 927: Economic Boom
Since the war began, Arthur has never paid any attention to the financial situation of the Australasian government.

It’s not that Arthur doesn’t attach importance to the country’s finances, but judging from the current economic development of Australasia during the war, it would be difficult for the finances to run a deficit.

In 1936, Australasia's GDP reached an unprecedented A$107.335 billion, the first time in 37 years since the founding of Australasia that its GDP exceeded A$ billion.

按照目前的货币汇率，1英镑＝1.87澳元＝19.33新美元＝25.73卢布＝27.34岛元＝191法郎。

107.335 billion Australian dollars is roughly equivalent to 57.398 billion pounds, which exceeds the UK's GDP of 55.02 billion pounds.

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

The ranking of the world's gross national product is as follows:
First place: Commonwealth, total GNP of £84.283 billion.

Second place: Germany, with a total GNP of £71.778 billion.

Third place: Australasia, with a total GNP of £57.398 billion.

Fourth place: France, total GNP 48.435 billion pounds.

Fifth place: Russia, total GNP 43.737 billion pounds.

Sixth place: Great Lakes Republic, total GNP 42.331 billion pounds.

18.992th place: Italy, total GNP billion pounds

Eighth place: Island country, total GNP 17.891 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 domestic market is counted, the UK's GDP has been surpassed by Australasia and Germany, ranking only third in the world.

Of course, the old colonial empire France suffered even more. Even if the gross national product of France's colonies is included, it still lags behind new powers such as Germany and Australasia.

If we only calculate the domestic GDP, France is not even as good as 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 better than any other country in the world.

It has now surpassed the homelands 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.

Moreover, compared with Germany's unstable economic environment, Australasia's economic environment is relatively more stable, and economic growth is gradual, healthy and sustainable.

A large part of the reason why Australasia's gross national economy continues to rise is due to the progress of this war.

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

Currently, the arms trade with Europe alone is

The government will be able to earn at least millions of Australian dollars in tax revenue.

The expansion of the arms industry has also led to the expansion of heavy industry, as well as the increase in income of people in related industries and more jobs, which is also a considerable gain.

So far, the per capita annual income in Australasia has remained at around A$187, and the per capita income in some economically developed regions has even exceeded A$210.

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

If a ruler wants to be loved by the people, the best way is to increase their income so that they have enough wealth to enjoy a better life.

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

If people's income cannot be increased, then simply reducing the burden will be useless. After all, how can people feel like going out if they don't even have money?

Speaking of the government's financial situation, thanks to the continuous development of the economy, the government's fiscal revenue has also been increasing.

In 1936, the government's annual fiscal revenue exceeded A$5 million, to be exact, A$5.225 million.

This is already a huge figure and a new high in fiscal revenue for the Australasia government.

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$6 million, reaching a terrifying A$6.325 million.

This also means that the government's fiscal loss last year was more than 1.1 million Australian dollars, which was the largest fiscal deficit since Australasia's independence.

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

Unlike World War I, the weapons and equipment of World War II were still very expensive. Especially aircraft and tanks, the cost was much higher than that of World War I, which is why the military expenditure of World War II was higher than that of World War I.

If we only look at the current war gains in Australasia, such expenditure is definitely worthwhile.

Of the fiscal expenditure of 6.325 million Australian dollars, military expenditure accounted for 1.47 million Australian dollars, accounting for 23.3% of the country's total fiscal expenditure.

The main expenses were for military expansion and the manufacture of weapons and equipment. Since Australasia did not devote too many troops to the war, the scale of military expenditure could still be controlled.

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

According to British intelligence, Britain's military spending last year was several times that of Australasia, with more than half of the funds going into the manufacture and maintenance of weapons and equipment.

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

What's more, Britain has an extremely large navy. Although the navy can bring unparalleled sense of 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, the loss of oil alone would probably be enough to increase Britain's fiscal expenditure by another 10%.

Britain was still relatively lucky. Although its homeland was bombed many times by Germany, at least it was not occupied by the Germans.

More than one-third of France was 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 anything else, on the day 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 more French-German children in Paris.

But it was the brutal acts of the German army that strengthened the French people's determination to resist Germany.

If we were to say what the biggest change was before and after the fall of Paris, France, it would probably be the people's support for the war.

Before Paris was captured, many French people still did not want to fight Germany, and there were even repeated anti-war marches.

But after the Germans' actions were repeatedly publicized in newspapers, most French people began to support the war. At least they did not want their families to be harmed by the Germans.

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

Before the war broke out, the available funds in the Australasia treasury were about A$4.33 million, which was the accumulation of fiscal surpluses over the years.

But last year's fiscal deficit was as high as A$1.1 million, which resulted in available funds being reduced to around A$3.23 million at the beginning of this year.

This is not the end. Almost half of 1937 has passed. During this half year, the government's finances are still in a state of severe deficit.

As of May 5, the government's current fiscal revenue is A$15 million, an increase of about 2.691% compared to the same period last year.

But the government's fiscal spending also maintained a small increase, spending A$3.289 million in five and a half months.

This also means that in the first five and a half months of this year, the government's fiscal deficit has reached 5980 million Australian dollars. Because of the fiscal deficit in the first half of this year, the government's available funds have been reduced to about 1.722 million Australian dollars.

According to the current annual fiscal deficit figures, this 1.7 million yuan can only last for a year and a half at most.

More importantly, such a fiscal deficit has a prerequisite, that is, Australasia does not deploy the military on a large scale.

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

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

But the good news is that public support for this war is very high.

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

If war bonds were issued to the country again, it would generate at least hundreds of millions of yuan in funds for the government.

Coupled with the relatively healthy economy in Australasia, there will be no problem in supporting the country to complete this war.

What's more, with the support of the Royal Foundation, if the government really has no money, Arthur can also issue an interest-free loan 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, etc., and the annual income is innumerable.

Although Arthur was not aware of the Royal Foundation's revenue last year, several years ago, the Royal Foundation's annual revenue had exceeded 2 million Australian dollars.

Judging from the current popularity of penicillin and the continued growth of the military industry, the Royal Consortium's annual income should be around 3 million Australian dollars, which is equivalent to more than half of the country's annual fiscal revenue.

It is impossible for the government 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, causing the major consortiums to scatter like stars in the sky.

The royal family's assets are already quite exaggerated. The Royal Bank alone can bring the royal family at least 3000 million Australian dollars in net income each year, and there are 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 of Australia is one of the only two banks in Australasia that has the right to print money, and almost half of the Australian dollars flow out of the Royal Bank of Australia.

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

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

The two banks together form the Currency Board, which is responsible for regulating the exchange rate of the Australian dollar and controlling the amount of Australian dollars issued.

Among them, the Royal Bank is relatively pure, being 100% owned by the Royal Consortium, with Arthur being the sole owner.

The National Bank is jointly owned by the government and the royal family, with the government holding 66% of the shares and having control over the National Bank, while the royal family holds 34% of the shares and does not participate in the operation of the National Bank, just waiting for dividends every year.

It is precisely because the two banks have the right to issue the Australian dollar that they are simply two unrivaled giants in Australasia.

However, due to Arthur's reputation, the Royal Bank is clearly more popular and occupies more than 50% of the Australasia banking market.

Below these two major banks are the domestic United Bank of Aristocrats, the Imperial Bank, and banks established by major foreign consortiums and other companies.

The Royal Consortium controls far more than just the two major currency-issuing banks. It also owns 49% of the shares of the United Bank of Nobles, 49% of the shares of the Imperial Bank, and 51% of the shares of the Industrial Development Bank.

If one had to describe the specific size of the Royal Consortium, Arthur would not be able to do so. This was because the Royal Consortium was so huge that it was impossible to describe it at all. Any of its large companies would have the potential to compete for the Fortune 500 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 later generations, these will definitely be able to compete for the top 500 or even top 100 among the world's top 50.

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

Even if it is just the royal consortium personally controlled by old Butler Kent, the funds that can be mobilized are at least over 2 million Australian dollars.

If all other consortiums are included, Arthur can mobilize at least 5 million Australian dollars in funds in a short period of time, which is equivalent to Australasia's annual fiscal revenue.

This is also the reason why Arthur is not worried about the government's financial situation at all. If the government really has no money, the royal family can easily provide the government with an interest-free loan, so there is no need to worry about the problem of running out of money.

(End of this chapter)