CANBERRA, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy has warned that the country's economic growth will be weak through the first three months of 2024.
Appearing before a Senate hearing on Monday, Kennedy said economic growth has slowed, with household spending at its lowest level in the past decade outside of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics will on Wednesday release gross domestic product (GDP) growth data for the first quarter of 2024.
"We expect activity to be very weak in the March quarter GDP," Kennedy said on Monday.
Australia's GDP grew by 0.2 percent in the final three months of 2023.
In a preview released late in May, economists from the National Australia Bank (NAB) -- one of Australia's big four banks -- forecast no GDP growth at all for the first quarter of 2024.
Kennedy said on Monday that the Treasury expects household spending to remain low through the first half of 2024 but will recover in the second half as tax cuts and higher wage growth bolster disposable incomes.
He noted that despite the economic slowdown the labor market remained strong, with employment growing even after accounting for population growth.
Australia's unemployment rate was 4.1 percent in April -- up from 3.9 percent in March. Kennedy said that the Treasury expects the unemployment rate to rise to 4.5 percent by June 2025. ■