Fiscal stimulus...

...with the U.S. the next in line. All very interesting in timing and ordinal rank.
I have already commented on the competitive aspects of this. The U.S. is in position to know the fiscal packages its competitors have enacted. A good spot to be in.

http://www.reuters.com/article/BANKSL/idUSLN44450720081123
* CHINA:

-- Provincial government plans will add an additional 10 trillion yuan ($1.464 trillion) to a 4 trillion yuan stimulus package announced by the central government earlier this month, state television said. The central scheme included rail and infrastructure schemes as well as extra social spending to offset the sharp drop in demand for the exports which fuel China's economy.

-- China is also changing value added tax (VAT) to allow companies to deduct the cost of capital equipment, saving them about 120 billion yuan a year.

* EUROPEAN UNION

- An economic stimulus plan to be presented on Nov. 26 will include a significant budgetary expansion, the head of the EU executive said on Friday, as it signalled longer deadlines for countries to slash budget gaps.

-- German Economy Minister Michael Glos has said the plan envisaged, among other things, a 1 percentage point cut in value-added tax across the EU and that the total value of the stimulus was 130 billion euros ($163 billion).

* GERMANY:

-- The government has announced a package which will generate about 50 billion euros ($64.22 billion) in investment and contracts.

- A new lending programme of up to 15 billion euros will be introduced for German state-owned development bank Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (KfW) to strengthen its lending activities. KfW's infrastructure programme for structurally weak local authorities will be raised by 3 billion euros.

-- Urgent investment in transport will be accelerated via a new programme totalling 1 billion euros in both 2009 and 2010.

-- Parliament has approved a rise in government net new borrowing in 2009 to 18.5 billion euros from 10.5 billion.

* HUNGARY:

-- Hungary announced plans for a 1,400 billion forint ($6.88 billion), two-year stimulus package to kick-start economic growth. The package does not involve new spending but a regrouping of existing funds to assist small and medium-sized businesses.

-- 680 billion forints will be allocated to provide lending guarantees primarily to SMEs and 260 billion forints will provide liquidity for lending.

* NETHERLANDS

-- The government has announced a "liquidity impulse" of about 6 billion euros ($7.5 billion), including allowing companies to write down investments earlier than usual.

-- Companies will also receive temporary financial support from an unemployment fund to pay employees who will cut down on their working hours.

*RUSSIA

-- Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Nov. 20 unveiled a $20 billion economic stimulus package and help for people hurt in the economic slowdown. He offered assurances there would be no repeat of the economic turmoil when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and, 10 years ago, when the state defaulted on its debt.

-- The package will include a cut in profit tax, which accounts for 8.5 percent of budget revenues, to 20 percent from 24 now, and a new depreciation mechanism that will allow firms to reduce the profit tax further.

-- The government has already sanctioned state-run banks to support industry with billions of dollars of soft funding.