Australia’s economy grew by 0.6% in the June quarter

ABC NEWS (Australia)

From splashing out on holidays at Easter to splurging on end of year sales Australians are spending again. That's the story behind the latest GDP figures which show the economy is growing at the fastest annual pace in nearly two years.

Transcript

00:00This bridge building factory is running hot.

00:06The company is expanding overseas as government orders slow down.

00:11Early next year we're seeing a lull that we're looking to fill of course,

00:15but through the back half of this year we're okay.

00:18And that's showing up in official figures,

00:20with government investment diving 3.9 per cent in the June quarter

00:24as infrastructure projects were completed or delayed.

00:28Australia's economy grew more than expected in the three months

00:31at 0.6 per cent and 1.8 per cent for the year.

00:35It was boosted by household spending on Easter holidays

00:38and end of financial year sales,

00:40which meant Australians saved less of their money,

00:43driving down the household savings ratio.

00:46Government spending also rose, mainly on Medicare

00:49and the pharmaceutical benefits scheme.

00:52It's a very welcome and substantial pick up in growth in our economy.

00:57Some of these areas of consumer spending were discretionary,

01:01but I do think that a lot of these are more one-offs

01:04and we're likely to see a softer pace of growth for the consumer

01:07in the next quarter.

01:09Mark Robson has seen his spending increase from last year,

01:13mostly on groceries and other necessary expenses.

01:16I set aside some money to pay for the petrol and the food and groceries

01:21and it just always seems to run out before payday comes around again.

01:25With economic growth higher than the Reserve Bank's expectations

01:28and inflation back in the target range,

01:31most economists say a September rate cut is unlikely.

01:34However, financial markets continue to expect another cut in November.

01:39So that's one of the things that they take to say

01:40that they can address and are very much more than one of the rewards

01:41and be able to pay for the opportunity and be able

01:42to answer that a lot of comments.

01:43And that's the question is,

01:44that's the question about whether theInterviewer

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