Australian economy is ‘very well placed’
TREASURER Josh Frydenberg says there is “light at the end of the tunnel” for Aussie families, after economics firm Deloitte painted a rosy economic picture even before the arrival of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Deloitte Access Economics has released its business outlook for December, finding unemployment would fall much faster than initially feared.
The report said although Australia had made a number of errors in combating COVID19, it was one of five countries — alongside Taiwan, China, Vietnam and New Zealand — that were “very well placed” to recover.
The Treasurer said the Deloitte report showed the economy was “in recovery mode”. “(The) Australian economy is bouncing back strongly. That’s what the Deloitte report said today, that the Australian economy is outperforming expectations,” Mr Frydenberg said.
“There will be challenges. It will be difficult, as we see globally as many countries struggle with the health and economic impacts of COVID-19.
“But we also know that Australia is so well positioned for that economic recovery, and the economic data that we have seen across the country is pointing in that direction.” But Deloitte warned wages and price gains would “keep bumping along the bottom for some time”, while elevated unemployment would “keep inflation and interest rates on a tight leash”.
Labor Treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers said stagnant wage growth would prevent the “patchy and uneven” recovery from becoming fully-fledged.