SYDNEY, April 12 (Reuters) - Australia will not be
immune to a slowdown in the global economy but is expected to
avoid a recession even as the situation across the world becomes
"more complex and more challenging", Treasurer Jim Chalmers said
on Wednesday.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday trimmed its
2023 global growth outlook as higher interest rates cool
activity but warned that a severe flare-up of financial system
turmoil could slash output to near recessionary levels.
Chalmers said the Treasury and the Reserve Bank of Australia
continued to expect that the Australian economy would "slow
considerably" later this year but were not currently expecting a
recession at home.
"We have got a lot coming at us from around the world but we
got a lot going for us as well," Chalmers told ABC Radio in an
interview ahead of his departure to the United States to attend
the World Bank and IMF spring meetings this week.
"We've got low unemployment, we're getting good prices for
our exports, we're seeing the beginnings of wages growth ... so
we've got some advantages."
The meetings with the other leaders in Washington, D.C. will
help him assess the latest trends in the global economy ahead of
the federal budget next month, Chalmers said.
"I think this budget in particular is going to need to
strike some pretty fine balances," Chalmers said.
The Australian government is looking to provide relief in
the budget for households fighting higher living costs, without
adding to inflation, which now is at a 30-year high.
(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Sonali Paul)
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