The Reserve Bank of Australia has decided to leave the cash rate at 1.5 per cent, unchanged since August 2016.
\nIn this year\u2019s Budget, global growth was downgraded to 3\u00bd per cent for 2019 and 2020 following a loss of momentum in the second half of 2018, which has extended in to the current year. The IMF has also since downgraded global growth further to 3.3 per cent in its latest World Economic Outlook warning that \u201cthis is a delicate moment for the global economy\u201d.
\nThe RBA in its statement said \u201cthe outlook for the global economy remains reasonable, although the risks are tilted to the downside. Growth in international trade has declined and investment intentions have softened in a number of countries.\u201d
\nAt home, we face our own challenges with the impact of flood and drought, as well as a cooling housing market and its impact on household consumption.
\nAustralia\u2019s economic fundamentals remain sound. In its monetary policy statement, the RBA stated that the \u201clabour market remains strong\u201d and that \u201cstrong employment growth over the past year or so has led to some pick-up in wages growth, which is a welcome development.\u201d
\nMore than 1.3 million jobs have been created since the Coalition was elected driving down the unemployment rate to 5.0 per cent. More than 100,000 young Australians between the ages of 15 and 24 found jobs last year \u2013 the highest number in Australia\u2019s history. Welfare dependency is at 30-year low and we are delivering the first Budget surplus in 12 years.
\nThe RBA expects \u201cthe Australian economy to grow by around 2\u00be per cent in 2019 and 2020. This outlook is supported by increased investment in infrastructure and a pick-up in activity in the resources sector, partly in response to an increase in the prices of Australia’s exports.\u201d
\nBut we must not be complacent. The Morrison government is delivering pro-growth policies including lower taxes, record infrastructure spending and investment in skills. These policies will support the economy in the near term as well as boost Australia\u2019s productive capacity, underpinning our prosperity.
\nWe are delivering a surplus, beginning the journey towards paying back Labor\u2019s debt. This is important as our interest bill has grown to more than $18 billion per year. The surplus will enhance our fiscal buffers, sending a strong signal to the market that we can meet the challenges that lie ahead. All at the same time as delivering record funding for schools, hospitals and roads.
\nIn contrast, Bill Shorten has a plan to weaken the economy, create fewer jobs and deliver lower wages, with $387 billion in higher taxes. A weaker economy will put at risk Australia\u2019s AAA credit rating, which was reaffirmed following the release of the Budget in April.
\nThe last time Labor delivered a surplus was in 1989 \u2013 more than 30 years ago.
\nWhen Labor spends more, they tax you more and when Labor taxes you more they weaken the economy.
\nAustralia cannot risk a return to Labor\u2019s high tax and spend agenda<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Reserve Bank of Australia has decided to leave the cash rate at 1.5 per cent, unchanged since August 2016. In this year\u2019s Budget, global growth was downgraded to 3\u00bd per cent for 2019 and 2020 following a loss of momentum in the second half of 2018, which has extended in to the current year. … Continue reading “Economic Headwinds Require Strong Economic Management”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2682\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}