THE NEWS WRAP: Australia’s deficit is $10 billion worse than last thought:Forecaster

Next week’s budget could show that Australia’s deficit is $10 billion worse than last thought, an economic forecaster has predicted.

Deloitte Access Economics said that it expects the Federal budget to be $51 billion in the red this year. It predicts a $22 billion deficit next year before a surplus of $710 million in 2012/13.

The lingering effects of the global financial downturn and recent natural disasters were blamed for the worse than expected deficit.

Plan to recruit 30,000 Indian graduates

Up to 30,000 Indian graduates could be recruited by Australian companies in order to combat severe skills shortages, according to the Australian Financial Review.

A plan has been drawn up that would see graduates trained at Australian institutions, as well as Indian workers with Australian-recognised qualifications arriving from the sub-continent to take up jobs here.

Branson shakes up airline empire

Richard Branson’s Virgin Blue has undergone a revamp, with the airline rebranded as Virgin Australia. V-Australia and Pacific Blue will also come under the new brand, which has a new grey-coloured logo. Branson said that he expected the airline to capture business class passengers from rivals including Qantas.

Overnight

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 83.93 points to 12,723.58. The Australian dollar drifted to 108.27 US cents.