14 December 2009

Australian economy performing better than another country: treasurer

Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan says Australia continues to outperform the rest of the world during the financial crisis and is confident for the economic outlook when growth figures are released on Wednesday.

In his weekly economic note, Mr Swan used an analysis of national accounts data released last week by the Australian Bureau Statistics to highlight the strength of the Australian economy.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics release showed the economy expanded by 1.1 per cent in 2008-09 at a time when every other major advanced economy experienced deep recession.

"In stark contrast, the major advanced economies contracted by 2.9 per cent in year-average terms over the same period, including historic contractions of 2.2 per cent in the US, 3 per cent in the UK and 5.1 per cent in Japan," Mr Swan said.

Mr Swan said the result confirmed that the economy would not have grown throughout the global financial crisis without the Rudd Government’s timely fiscal stimulus.

Economists are predicting that the national accounts figures for the September quarter will show a rise in gross domestic product of 0.4 per cent, taking growth for the year to 0.7 per cent.

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