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AUSTRALIA-ECONOMY-GROWTH
Aussie economy growth strongest in 6 years: Treasurer
CANBERRA, Sept. 6, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – Australia’s economy is growing
faster than at any point in the last six years, the nation’s Treasurer, Josh
Frydenberg, has declared.
Data released on Wednesday revealed that the Australian economy grew 0.9
percent in the June quarter and 3.4 percent over the 12 months to the end of
June, the strongest 12-month growth since the 2012 mining boom.
The nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the same period was 4.7
percent, surpassing the 4.25 percent forecast in May’s federal budget.
The results mean that Australia has completed 27 years of economic growth
without recession and that Frydenberg will reveal a deficit smaller than the
18.2 billion Australian dollars predicted in May when he delivers his final
budget outcome later in September.
“The economy is strong, the fundamentals are good and momentum has
continued and these are an encouraging set of numbers,” Frydenberg, who
assumed the role of Treasurer in late August when his predecessor, Scott
Morrison, became prime minister, told News Corp Australia on Thursday.
“We’re not scheduled to get back to balance until 2019-20, but certainly
the numbers yesterday were better than expected, and that will flow through
to the final budget outcome due this month.”
He said that the government had done a “lot of work” to achieve the
figures but conceded there was plenty more to be done, especially on wage
growth, which remains low.
“The wages price index is up 2.1 per cent for the year, and the
compensation of employees, which is the overall wages and salary bill across
the economy is up 4.8 per cent,” he told Australian Broadcasting Corporation
(ABC) radio.
“But what we need to ensure is that the labour market continues to tighten
as more jobs are created, and the Reserve Bank thinks that that will lead to
a growth in real wages over time.”
BSS/XINHUA/HR/1225