Australia to slash A$16 billion off student debt amid cost of living pressures


  • World
  • Sunday, 03 Nov 2024

FILE PHOTO: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks during a press conference at the Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, June 17, 2024. Lukas Coch/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Sunday that his government planned to cut student loans for around three million Australians by 20%, wiping around A$16 billion ($10.49 billion) in debts.

The move builds on May's budget which attacked cost of living pressures in Australia and gave debt relief for students, as well as more investment to make medicines cheaper, and a boost to a rent assistance programme.

"This will help everyone with a student debt right now, whilst we work hard to deliver a better deal for every student in the years ahead," Albanese said in a statement announcing the cut to student loans for tertiary education.

The changes would mean the average graduate with a loan of A$27,600 would have A$5,520 wiped, the government said.

The government said it already planned to cut the amount that Australians with a student debt have to repay per year and raise the threshold to start repayments.

Cost of living pressures, stoked by stubbornly high inflation, have a special resonance with a federal election looming and the centre-left Labor government now polling behind their conservative opponents.

($1 = 1.5246 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Sam McKeith; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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