Feb 17, 2008
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start --> SYDNEY - AUSTRALIA said it was relaxing its migration
programme to allow more skilled workers into the country where the
jobless rate is at a three-decade low and most companies face a
labour shortage.
The new centre-left Labor government said it was expanding the
skilled migration programme by 6,000 in 2007-08, bringing the total
number of visas to 108,500.
'Employer-sponsored visas are the highest priority because they
put a migrant worker directly into a skilled job,' Mr Chris Evans,
Immigration and Citizenship minister, said in a statement on
Sunday.
The government will also expand the working holiday visa
programme for young people, a move which is expected to benefit the
tourism and construction industries.
Australia is a nation of migrants, with nearly one-in-four of
the country's 21 million people born overseas. The booming economy,
which has been growing at more than 4 per cent annually, is facing
a huge shortage of skilled labour, pushing up wages and stoking
inflationary pressures.
The unemployment rate has been under 5 per cent since 2006 and
figures out last week showed it falling to a fresh 33-year low of
4.1 per cent in January.
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inflation in Australia was running at a 16-year high of 3.6 per
cent last quarter, forcing the central bank to hike interest rates
to an 11-year high of 7 per cent earlier this month. Markets are
expecting one more rate hike in March as it steps up its fight to
curb inflation.
Mr Evans said the latest package had the potential to provide
thousands of additional workers in the short term and would help
address inflationary pressures. -- REUTERS