Australia defies economic gloom

Australia defied the international gloom to post better-than-expected economic growth for 2001, official figures showed today.

Allowing for seasonal influences, GDP grew a robust 1.3 per cent in the last three months of 2001 and 4.1 per cent for the year, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.

Treasurer Peter Costello said the figures showed Australia grew strongly while maintaining low inflation and record high productivity.

Solid spending by consumers and business outweighed negative performances by imports and exports, the ABS said.

Government spending also contributed strongly to growth, thanks largely to an 8.7 per cent rise in defence spending.

"(Today's) national accounts provide further evidence that strong economic growth continued to be accompanied by low inflation and record high productivity," Mr Costello said.

The global economic outlook remained the greatest concern for Australia's economy, but tentative signs have emerged that the world downturn had ended and recovery may be underway, he said.

But Mr Costello cautioned that while the United States economy looked to have bottomed, Japan was still in recession and Europe still looked weak.

"Knowing what I now know, it looks to me as if the worst in the international environment is over, and Australia survived the worst in the international environment," he said.

"Frankly, the fact that Australian exporters held up to the extent that they did through this synchronised downturn I think is a pretty good credit to Australia's exporters, supported of course by a competitive exchange rate."

Despite the strong pace of growth, Mr Costello said he expected jobseekers would still have to wait until later in the year before prospects started to improve.

"If corporate profits stay strong and if consumer demand stays strong and business investment picks up, I would expect later in the year you'd see some effect in employment but I wouldn't expect any short-term response."

Household consumption expenditure rose 1.3 per cent in the quarter, with spending up on clothing and footwear (4.4 per cent) and alcoholic beverages (4.1 per cent).

But there was a decline in spending at hotels, cafes and restaurants (2.7 per cent), the ABS said.

Exports were down 3.2 per cent while imports rose 1.6 per cent, each taking 0.6 percentage points off the quarterly GDP rate.


	Government News Index site index HOME Australia defies economic gloom CANBERRA March 7 2002 Australia defied the international gloom to post better-than-expected economic growth for 2001, official figures showed today. Allowing for seasonal influences, GDP grew a robust 1.3 per cent in the last three months of 2001 and 4.1 per cent for the year, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said. Treasurer Peter Costello said the figures showed Australia grew strongly while maintaining low inflation and record high productivity. Solid spending by consumers and business outweighed negative performances by imports and exports, the ABS said. Government spending also contributed strongly to growth, thanks largely to an 8.7 per cent rise in defence spending. "(Today's) national accounts provide further evidence that strong economic growth continued to be accompanied by low inflation and record high productivity," Mr Costello said. The global economic outlook remained the greatest concern for Australia's economy, but tentative signs have emerged that the world downturn had ended and recovery may be underway, he said. But Mr Costello cautioned that while the United States economy looked to have bottomed, Japan was still in recession and Europe still looked weak. "Knowing what I now know, it looks to me as if the worst in the international environment is over, and Australia survived the worst in the international environment," he said. "Frankly, the fact that Australian exporters held up to the extent that they did through this synchronised downturn I think is a pretty good credit to Australia's exporters, supported of course by a competitive exchange rate." Despite the strong pace of growth, Mr Costello said he expected jobseekers would still have to wait until later in the year before prospects started to improve. "If corporate profits stay strong and if consumer demand stays strong and business investment picks up, I would expect later in the year you'd see some effect in employment but I wouldn't expect any short-term response." Household consumption expenditure rose 1.3 per cent in the quarter, with spending up on clothing and footwear (4.4 per cent) and alcoholic beverages (4.1 per cent). But there was a decline in spending at hotels, cafes and restaurants (2.7 per cent), the ABS said. Exports were down 3.2 per cent while imports rose 1.6 per cent, each taking 0.6 percentage points off the quarterly GDP rate. AAP The Age Index