Sydney (Australia), 7 June. Australia’s economy grew by 0.2 per cent between January and March this year, according to official data published on Wednesday, the slowest rate since September 2021, when part of the country was confined by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a year-on-year comparison, the ocean country’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 2.3% in March compared to the same month last year, according to a statement published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). ,
The figures fell short of forecasts by economists, who had expected an expansion of 0.3% quarterly and 2.4% annually.
Australian Treasury Minister Jim Chalmers said in a statement today that the numbers “confirm that the Australian economy is losing momentum due to the impact of the war in Ukraine”, which has also led to a rise in interest rates. , high inflation and recession in the world GDP.
The publication of the GDP results comes a day after the Reserve Bank of Australia raised interest rates by 0.25 percentage points per annum to 4.1% to control inflation, which is around 7%.
Since the September 2021 quarter, when the economy contracted by 2.1%, GDP has been projected to grow by 3.9% for six consecutive quarters, followed by 0.6%, 0.8%, 0.6%, 0.6% and 0.2% in 2022 officially has increased continuously. Figures.
When announcing his national budget last May, Chalmers indicated that he would target economic growth for the next fiscal year between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, before achieving a recovery of 2.25% for 2024-25. expect it to be 1.5%.