Australian economy: Slow March quarter growth just 0.2 per cent

[Pelican Press 0]

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*********** economy: Slow March quarter growth just 0.2 per cent

Australia’s economy grew just 0.2 per cent in the first three months of the year, according to the latest data from the *********** Bureau of Statistics.

Through the 12 months to March, growth was 1.3 per cent.

That pace is far below the average of recent decades and shows the country’s engine is still stuck in a low gear.

“Economic growth was soft in the March quarter,” ABS head of national accounts Katherine Keenan said.

“Public spending recorded the largest detraction from growth since the September quarter 2017.

“Extreme weather events reduced domestic final demand and exports. Weather impacts were particularly evident in mining, tourism and shipping.”

The ******* covered the Reserve Bank’s February rate cut and was prior to US President Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tax hikes on trade.

Economists yesterday lowered their hopes for the March quarter figures on the back of a run of weak data.

ANZ had expected 0.2 per cent growth while Commonwealth Bank tipped 0.3 per cent.

International body the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development also revised down their projections thanks to the chaos of Mr Trump’s trade war.

“Weakened economic prospects will be felt around the world, with almost no exception,” chief economist Álvaro Pereira said.

The OECD warned Australia had been hit hard by a decade-long international slowdown of business investment which will weigh on growth and wages.

The Reserve Bank cut interest rates a second time in May, to brace for the trade war and amid encouraging signs that inflation had slowed.

Minutes from that meeting showed the RBA’s board believed trade uncertainty would “best be managed by adopting a path of least regret, which . . . would be likely to involve a lower cash rate”.

Earlier this week, Treasurer Jim Chalmers had anticipated the economy would be “resilient in the face of substantial headwinds at home and abroad”.

“Our economy has been hit by natural disasters and we’re not immune to global volatility, but the progress Australians have made together means we are well placed and well prepared to face this uncertainty,” he said on Monday.

More to come

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