Melbourne, Dec. 5 (BNA): Australia will raise its economic growth forecast for 2022 in its mid-year budget review, Australian Chancellor of the Exchequer Josh Frydenberg said on Sunday, adding that it is too early to estimate the impact of the coronavirus variable Omicron on the economy. prospects.
Reuters reports that Frydenberg is due to provide a budget update in the coming weeks, in the middle of the Australian financial year that ends in June.
Australia’s economy shrank 1.9% in the third quarter as the delta outbreak put half the population under lockdown, though a quick recovery is underway as the country sets vaccination rates outpacing the world.
“The market is coming back strong,” Frydenberg said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s “Insiders” programme, referring to figures showing growth in jobs and retail sales.
“It comes as a result of the fact that we now have one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, and one of the lowest death rates in the world.”
Health data shows that 88% of Australians over the age of 16 have been fully vaccinated and nearly 93% have received a single dose.
Asked if Omicron, the new alternative that has also spread to Australia, would pose a threat to the economic outlook, as indicated by the International Monetary Fund, Frydenberg said there should be no panic.
“It is too early to make any definitive decisions or estimates about the economy as a result of Omicron,” Frydenberg said.
He did not say whether the projected upgrade to growth would be for the 2022 calendar year of the fiscal year beginning in July. The budget released in May projected a 4.5% expansion for the 2021-22 fiscal year before slowing to 2.5% the following year.
MI