Bank of England Statement - March 13th
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by Bank of England
Welcome. This is the first of March’s newsletters from the Bank of England and also my first newsletter of my 2nd term as Minister of Finance. To those that don’t know me I’m roadrunnerspeed (link) and my job is to ensure that the eUK’s economy is stable and to ensure that the government isn’t over spending. Although this sounds easy let me assure you there is more to it than you think.
Catch Up
At current you will be (or should be) aware of the shutdown of finance. This was brought about because of government HUGELY overspending. Although this was flagged up by my Ministry a week before the shut down took place a lack of powers meant that I was unable to do anything. Finally my Ministry was put into lock down to ensure that no more funding was given. We are currently still in lock down but with new laws passing as we speak this will be soon lifted.
Taxes
The first set of laws which will be passing for the next few days will see a rise in income tax, from 10% to 20%. This rise is needed to pay for all the things that help make the eUK great, such as the NHS and our Military. Of course this decision was not taken lightly and we analyzed the market as well as exploring many alternatives. However it was felt that an increase in income tax was the only sure fire way to get the eUK finances back on track.
>>>>How Will This Affect Me?
This increase means that you will lose some of your salary to through taxes. E.g. If you applied for a job that paid 10 GBP a day you would be getting 9 GBP a day ---- After the increase you will be getting 8 GBP.
>>>>What Industries Will This Affect?
The increase will be carried out across all industries to ensure that we do not see some industries loose employees due to higher taxes.
Ministerial Powers
As mentioned earlier my Ministry was unable to do anything about the government overspending as at current the Minister of Finance only holds an “advisory” role. Therefore it was seen that changes were needed, and as I write this two Bills are going through the appropriate governing bodies to enable myself and future Ministers more power. I will publish these new powers when they are passed.
eUSA ATLANTIS Fine
Although I try to distance myself from international relations this matter involved my Ministry so I feel it is important to at least mention it. Due to a violation of the Treaty it was deemed that the eUSA should pay 100 GOLD fine to every nation within ATLANTIS for not informing them of the war with Mexico. (I do not tend to debate whether this was right or wrong.) The president of the eUSA has paid this fine to the eUK and this has caused some friction between our two nations. However let me make it clear – A deal has been made between our two nations that will benefit us both and provided the terms are carried out the eUK is happy to donate 90 GOLD as a gesture of the friendship between our 2 nations. I understand that the eUSA has financial difficulties as we too have had troubles recently, and therefore with the common goal to improve finances I hope that we can both work together to help each other recover.
Benchmarks
The benchmarks for this term have been set at:
1 GBP = 0.027 GOLD
1 GOLD = 38.5 GBP
Things to come
- New Powers
- Restart spending
- Foreign Exchange Market
My Team
Minister of Finance: Roadrunnerspeed
Under Minister: HazzN
Apprentices: Arthur Wellesley & EJPayne
- For loans please contact the Ministry of Trade -
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Comments
good article
😮D
Sounds good.
i hate those words "increase in taxes"
but i understand that it must be done
Excellent statement 🙂
An increase in taxes is unnecessary. The VAT on goods is high enough that we should be lowering the income tax and letting the sales fund the necessities. More money in people's pockets will result in them spending more, and revenue to the Treasury will actually increase.
In addition, the income tax is especially oppressive to newer citizens, who need to make every GBP count at least until they receive their 5 gold. If the income tax is going to go up, there should be a personal exemption of between 0.5 and 2 GBP so that the poor are not penalized for their hard work.
Finally, the NHS gifting scheme is a sham. It's presently bankrupt, and it will never work as intended. Cut out the NHS and let citizens keep more of their money so that they can purchase better quality food and housing faster. Employers concerned with the wellness of their employees will find a way to help them.
As in the past, I will do everithing under my reach to work alongside with you to respect the benchmarks approved.
Please accept my best regards.
WBI
this is a Good idea all experienced people know that this is needed.
good article
🙂
I can't understand giving back 90gold to eUS.
On another matter, the NHS IS important yes, the military too...
But when are we going to tackle the extremely high inflation rate?
How we will start working. Because there are no job offers in the human recourses for the low skill (especially for my skill "zero").
Can somebody do something for this subject.
@ Andy Justice
Your ideas work in real life but please remember this is eRepublik and the economy system is not the same. We cannot exempt people at certain wages as that is not part of the game. Also if we decreased income tax it is true that people would have a little bit more money (and I mean a LITTLE) but there is no guarantee they will buy eUK products as moving and buying abroad is so simple in game.
Also if you consider a salary of 10 GBP at the current point the employee will earn 9GBP (10% income tax) which they can spend however they want. Now if we make the income tax 20% that is an extra 1 GBP to the government (guaranteed). If we keep at 10% that employee has 1 extra GBP to spend (compared to 20😵. If they buy an item (say Q1 food) the government would only see 0.1 of that through VAT. and 0.09 through income on business tax. That is 0.19 GBP and that isn't guaranteed (hence a big difference). Therefore the only way to ensure that the Government gets proper funding we had to raise income tax.
Taxes like VAT and Import can be semi-bypassed whereas Income cannot. So Income tax is the only sure fire way to increase our revenue.
Final note - The NHS helps new players to the game. It has helped many in its time and I am sure that the NHS Director would agree that it has proven itself in the past.
@ WBI
Thank you. I really appreciate that you work with us and not against us.
The same also goes to Aurum bank who have been a life line in the recent situtation.
@ Steff
Inflation is not a priority and also during wars we expect it to be high and rising.
@ Trailer
Once the Minister of Finance Bill passes the Department of Work will start back up and this will not be an issue.
Under the current climate, as long as work is out there and it is a temporary increase i would vote in favour of an income tax rise to the region of 35%.
So long as it was A>Temporary, and B>used to attack norway (OIL + DIAMONDS + Peace agreement runs out in 2days.
We can't afford war, so we'll be swallowed by europe 🙁
Minimum Wage is still 1GBP.
Income Tax of 20% leaves £0.80.
1 Q1 Food is about £0.90.
Therefore the minimum wage is at starvation level.
If this not resolved I will not vote for your party at any point in the future.
@ Scott2006
The simple solution is to not get a minimum wage job.
New users start with 5 GBP. This can buy 5 Q1 Food. They can then work at min wage for 2 days before they are skill 1 and can up their salary to afford Q1 food a day. Along with the NHS as well means that the system is still ok.
As to the "threat" (if you can call it that) about not voting for my party I really don't mind as Ministerial position aren't given out on a party basis. However you would know this if you had joined the forums...
Question: Is the income tax increase temporary or permanent? If it is temporary, how long will it last?
@ roadrunnerspeed
One of the problems with the game is the high drop out. Newbies might not hang around if they see that they are not earning enough money to break even.
Do you tell all newbies that they only need to work for 2 days at a farcical level? The policies fail the new players.
The NHS works - most of the time. If people join on the days its not able to work - then they can starve, as there is no other safety net.
I'm starving atm. I use all my cash to buy ticket to romanai. neva mind gun and now cuz i can't quit job until the 17th i have 0GBP to buy food.
i dunno what NHS is so i starve..
being paid less sounds bad to me. i'm already being paid minimum wage. 🙁
Glad to be a part of this team.