Chapter 522 Good News

International food prices plummeted, Austrian domestic food prices were also hit, and food prices plummeted.

The local grain price in Austria has always been lower than the international market, and this time it is finally in line with the international market.

Not only food prices fell again, but the prices of other agricultural products also fell. Capitalists have been trying to drag the market, but in vain in the face of the huge supply.

With the turmoil in the international grain market, a large amount of raw grain was sold to the market, which also affected the export of finished grain.

Taking flour export as an example, not only did the price drop by 9% over the same period last year, but the total export volume also shrank by 4%.

This is the aftermath of the Vienna government's dumping of old grain to the UK. British capitalists who got cheap raw materials worked hard to produce and crowded out the original market.

This is a no-brainer, flour cannot be stored for a long time. If you want to disrupt the grain trade between Britain and Russia, you can only use raw grain to attack.

Falling prices and shrinking exports have made life difficult for companies engaged in exporting agricultural products, especially the processing industries with low technology content.

In the Austrian agro-processing industry, a huge industrial chain has also been formed. There are more than 3 million industrial workers, and more than 800,000 enterprises are engaged in flour processing alone.

This also involves tens of millions of farmers, and the impact of the grain processing industry will inevitably affect the purchase of new grains.

In the Vienna Palace, Franz put down the documents in his hand and picked up the teacup. The faint smoke rose and the fragrance overflowed.

"The domestic market must be stabilized as soon as possible. The international trade price of raw grains has plummeted, and the traded prices of finished grains will plummet soon.

Capitalists can't last long. In the face of interests, few people can remain rational, and the finished grain market will not be stable for long.

The international market is uncontrollable, and it counts as much as we can keep our share. We don’t have to worry about temporary gains and losses, but we must stabilize the local and colonial markets.

The domestic food consumption is growing at a rate of nearly 2%. As long as it lasts for two or three years, we will be able to survive the crisis when the bankruptcies of farmers in various European countries break out.

However, the government still has to adopt more active policies and cannot wait for the market to adjust spontaneously. We don't have so much time to waste, otherwise the advantages accumulated in the early stage will be wasted in vain. "

The main reason for the increase in consumption is population growth, followed by economic development as people's income increases, and consumption increases accordingly.

Franz's previous proposal to absorb immigrants from European countries is actually a means of increasing food consumption.

Of course, the main purpose of absorbing immigrants is still the labor force. Austria's colonies are already huge, and to develop these places requires a large population.

Even in the most important African continent, after so many years of hard work, the total population of Austrian Africa has only exceeded 10 million.

This number is far from enough, and other colonies are even worse, because the population is too small to do even the most basic development.

Agriculture Minister Halls stood up, took out a report from the folder, walked up and handed it to Franz.

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Agriculture proposes to raise import tariffs on agricultural products to prevent foreign agricultural products from impacting the local market; at the same time, implement the minimum grain purchase protection price and implement the recommended guide price for domestic finished grain prices.

For the grain export enterprises whose interests have been damaged, the Ministry of Agriculture proposes to give them tax rebate subsidies to make up part of the losses.

These are specific measures, and there are corresponding supporting plans. After the implementation of the plan, the sales price of local agricultural products will stabilize in the shortest possible time. "

Raise import tariffs on agricultural products, this is for Russians. In recent years, the grain exports of the Russian Empire have only decreased, not completely disappeared.

However, this part of the grain did not directly enter the international raw grain market, but was sold to grain processing companies in Austria. After the processing was completed, it was sold to the international market, including returning to the Russian Empire.

Austria can occupy up to 70% of the international agricultural export market, and the contribution of the Russians is indispensable.

Now that the production capacity of the Russians has exploded, Austria can no longer eat it. In addition, in recent years, countries have wildly increased grain production, and the international market is oversupplied. Naturally, the Ministry of Agriculture will give priority to protecting the interests of its nobles and farmers.

The minimum grain purchase protection price is also one of the measures to protect the interests of farmers. Including the following guide price of local finished grain sales, it is also a part of it.

Simply put, the government sets a retail price range for finished grains, and companies can only set prices within this range.

Prior to this, the Vienna government had a maximum selling price for agricultural products, and now a minimum price has been added.

"Free market economy", it is a pity that Austria has a market economy, but not a free market economy. It is not once or twice that the government has intervened in the market.

Of course, if it is an industry that has nothing to do with international people's livelihood, the Vienna government will never intervene, such as: arts and crafts, luxury goods, it is very free.

After a brief look at it, Franz nodded and shook his head.

"The latter plans are good, but the increase in import tariffs on agricultural products cannot be implemented for the time being. We have raised tariffs, and the Russians will definitely take countermeasures to increase tariffs on Austrian industrial and commercial products.

It is enough that this storm is limited to agriculture, and then it spreads to other industries, and the consequences are even more difficult to control.

We can impose restrictions on the implementation of the minimum grain purchase price, only for local and new grains this year;

Tax rebate subsidies are also limited to products processed from local grains.

In order to prevent companies from defrauding subsidies, once they apply for tax rebate subsidies, companies are prohibited from purchasing foreign agricultural products within six months. "

Franz still remembers that an important reason for the reversal of Germany and Russia in the original time and space was because of tariffs on agricultural products. Of course, the current situation is different. The Russians have no confidence to turn against Austria.

Just blindly intensifying contradictions is not good. Although the market of the Russian Empire is not very good due to the poor economic development, it is also an important sales market for Austrian industrial and commercial products.

Moreover, the Russian-Austrian alliance has not collapsed, and the trade agreement signed by the two countries is still valid. Unless it's a breach of a contract, raising tariffs is a joke.

Within the scope of the agreement, it is clearly stipulated that the tariff increase each time shall not exceed 5% of the original tariff rate, and the same commodity can only be adjusted once within three years.

The agricultural trade tariff between Russia and Austria is 4%, and on the basis of this tax rate, it will be increased by 5%, that is, 4.2%. If it's just a little bit higher, Franz might as well be out of tune.

The tsarist government has repeatedly raised taxes on Austrian industrial and commercial products, but it has not changed the fact that Austrian goods fill the shelves of Russian stores, which is enough to illustrate the problem.

Within the scope of the treaty between the two parties, there is no commodity with a tariff rate of more than 10%, and most of them are only a few points.

If you want to go beyond the simple, that is to break the contract. This kind of treaty was signed by Franz after finally fooling the Russians into signing it. How could he voluntarily break the treaty?

From this aspect, the overall situation of the Minister of Agriculture still needs to be improved. However, on this small issue, Franz is very generous and tolerant, and technocrats can't ask too much.

In other abilities, Halls performed very mediocrely, but he was very powerful in the professional field. During his years in charge of the Ministry of Agriculture, Austrian agriculture has improved qualitatively.

Optimizing the agricultural industrial structure, promoting new agricultural technologies, and improving the agricultural industrial chain, etc., were all done under his auspices.

Now Austrian agricultural overcapacity is due to Halls. Of course, it's not his fault. It is too difficult to change farmers' planting habits when they can still make money.

This agricultural crisis in the original time and space lasted for more than 20 years, forcing farmers one after another into bankruptcy, and then regaining the balance, the difficulty in this can be imagined.

Planting cash crops is not a problem in one sentence, but also to ensure income. Unfortunately, due to the opaque market information, no one can make this guarantee.

Austria is not a planned economy, farmers can plant whatever they want. There is a shortage of stock on the market this year, and it may rot in the ground next year and no one wants it.

In contrast, grain is a solid product. Maybe the rate of return could be lower, but it wouldn't be worth it.

After a short pause, after digesting Franz's words, Stephen, Minister of Colonialism, took out a document and handed it to Franz.

"Your Majesty, gold mines have been frequently discovered in South Africa recently, and the quality and reserves of these discovered gold mines are quite astonishing.

This is a report submitted by the Governor of South Africa, Viscount Fickney. It is initially judged that this is a larger gold mine group than that of West Africa, and its reserves may exceed that of the United States. "

This is good news. Austria lost in the competition for currency hegemony and the lack of gold standard is also an important reason.

Franz knows how rich South Africa's gold reserves are. If you know, you know, but when you say it, the explanation is not clear.

The religious atmosphere in Austria is already very strong, and Franz does not want to continue to promote the church. After so many years of rebirth, he has not revealed any flaws, he just relies on caution.

Anyway, the gold is buried in the ground, and it can't escape. South Africa is occupied, and sooner or later these gold mines will be discovered, and eventually they will flow into Austria.

In fact, Austria's golden edge is also very good, almost every colony has gold. This is not a special choice by Franz, it is entirely the reality that has led Austria's expansion direction to the past.

When the first expansion of the African colony, Franz did not expect to have today's foundation. If it wasn't for the fact that European countries did not pay attention to the African continent, how could Austria be cheaper.

The expansion into the South Seas was a complete accident, an unexpected success; the Central American colonies existed only to intervene in the South African war, and the scale they are today is also beyond Franz's plans.

Before the action, Franz didn't know that the small countries in Central America were such scumbags.

Originally, he just planned to borrow a place to stay, but as a result, he accidentally fooled a group of German immigrants from the United States, and directly turned against the customers.

Of course, it is estimated that those in power in the small countries will be dissatisfied with this statement. There are only tens of thousands of white people in a country, and the army never exceeds one regiment. What can they use to resist Austria?

Not to mention Alaska, it can be regarded as the Russians forced over. If you ignore the fact that Franz secretly dispatched PR, this is the case.

Austria has developed to the point where, in addition to hard work, the element of luck is also very important. Franz can only sigh that reality is full of legends.

Picking up the file and flipping through it, there was no accident. The historical missions of the two republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State have come to an end, and now they can return to the arms of Austria.

There is nothing wrong with this, the local people have become supporters of Austria. The republicans may have gone to see God. The report did not say what happened, and Franz did not know.

"When you're ready, let's stage a farce and let these two republics dissolve! Since South Africa is going to be developed,

You can't keep them out of sight. "

Franz is shameful, but he will not directly annex a sovereign country. If the Transvaal and the Orange Free State were dissolved, and the local people returned to the arms of Austria, then there would be no problem.

Franz believed that Viscount Fickney could handle this problem. After such a long time, if the local powerful faction did not go to see God, they must be their own.

Even if something goes wrong, that's not a problem. This year, African colonies are very chaotic, and any accident is normal.

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