Australia treasurer takes a dig at the ‘doomsayers’
TOUTS 4.3% GROWTH AND ADDITION OF 38,900 JOBS AHEAD OF A GOVERNMENT CONCLAVE
Australia’s economic performance is proving the “doomsayers” wrong, treasurer Wayne Swan said ahead of a government conference this week to address challenges including an elevated currency and uneven growth.
A 4.3 per cent expansion in the first quarter from a year earlier and the addition of 38,900 jobs in May were standout achievements, Swan said in his weekly economic note yesterday. Capitalising on growth opportunities is a topic at Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s economic forum in Brisbane starting tomorrow, he said.
Public support for Gillard’s government isn’t getting a lift from one of the fastest-growing economies in the developed world, led by the resource-rich regions in the north and west. Consumer confidence is subdued and her governing Labor Party trails in opinion polls as tourism, manufacturing and retail industries struggle with the sustained strength of the local currency.
“There are always those who are all too ready to talk down our nation’s prospects,” Swan said. “Over the past week, the doomsayers have been proved to be completely and absolutely wrong.”
The Australian dollar rose 2.2 per cent against the US currency lastweek, and has appreciated about 41 per cent since the start of 2009. The country’s investment pipeline of resource projects is about A$500 billion (Dh1.81 trillion).
The mining boom is lifting gross domestic product. Australia’s annual growth in the January-March period was the fastest since the third quarter of 2007, a government report showed last week. Growth averaged over the past two quarters was the fastest among countries with Group of 10 currencies tracked by Bloomberg.
The nation’s employment gains from January through Maywere themost infive years, and the unemployment rate of 5.1 per cent in May is less than half the 11 per cent level of joblessness in the euro area.