Treasurer Jim Chalmers has insisted Australia is not heading for a recession, despite the economy recording its weakest growth in nearly three years.
He was speaking with Today this morning after data released yesterday showed gross domestic product rising by just 0.1 per cent in the first three months of the year.
Chalmers said he was not expecting a recession, but acknowledged the national accounts data from the Australian Bureau of Statistic was “very weak”.
Chalmers insists the economy is not heading for a recession.
“The economy barely grew in the first three months of the year. We knew it was going to be weak. And that was the case … people know that the economy is soft and they are under pressure,” he said.
Chalmers said last year’s spate of interest rate rises and stubborn inflation were causing “uncertain times” for many households.
”That’s putting people under a lot of pressure and it’s slowing the economy as well. There are some other factors, too.
“And so really, from our point of view, the most important thing to do is to fight this inflation without smashing the economy and to provide this cost of living help in the most responsible way. And that’s what we’re doing.”
The Treasurer said next month’s tax cuts as well as energy bill relief, a pay rise for workers on awards and help with rent and student debt offered some relief.
The central bank’s governor, Michelle Bullock, yesterday told a Senate estimates hearing while she wants to provide relief to households struggling with mortgage repayments, bringing the CPI back to target was the bank’s immediate priority, saying “inflation is actually the thing that is hurting absolutely everyone”.
