Australia's 42-billion-dollar (28 billion US) stimulus package will take time to filter through the economy but should help boost demand later in the year, the central bank said.
Australia had proved "more resilient than other industrial economies" to the global financial crisis, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) board said at its monthly board meeting, the minutes of which were released Tuesday.
The board said there would be little immediate impact from the stimulus package which parliament passed last Friday.
"Nonetheless, the substantial measures taken would help to cushion the economy from the contractionary forces coming from abroad and, over time, work to establish conditions conducive to stronger demand later in the year," it said.
The package includes 28.8 billion dollars spending on schools, housing and roads over four years, tax breaks for small businesses and cash handouts totalling 12.7 billion dollars to eligible workers, farmers and students.
Treasury estimates the plan will boost economic growth by 0.5 percentage points in 2008-09 and 0.75-1.0 points in 2009-10, supporting up to 90,000 jobs.
The Reserve Bank has slashed interest rates by four percentage points since September as it attempts to offset the impact of the financial crisis, with the most recent one-point cut this month that took rates to 3.25 per cent.
Australia had proved "more resilient than other industrial economies" to the global financial crisis, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) board said at its monthly board meeting, the minutes of which were released Tuesday.
The board said there would be little immediate impact from the stimulus package which parliament passed last Friday.
"Nonetheless, the substantial measures taken would help to cushion the economy from the contractionary forces coming from abroad and, over time, work to establish conditions conducive to stronger demand later in the year," it said.
The package includes 28.8 billion dollars spending on schools, housing and roads over four years, tax breaks for small businesses and cash handouts totalling 12.7 billion dollars to eligible workers, farmers and students.
Treasury estimates the plan will boost economic growth by 0.5 percentage points in 2008-09 and 0.75-1.0 points in 2009-10, supporting up to 90,000 jobs.
The Reserve Bank has slashed interest rates by four percentage points since September as it attempts to offset the impact of the financial crisis, with the most recent one-point cut this month that took rates to 3.25 per cent.
No comments:
Post a Comment