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Treasurer Josh Frydenberg gave an economic update yesterday mapping out the deep impacts of the COVID-19 shutdown on the Australian economy and federal budget.
Frydenberg revealed that the underlying cash deficit was $22.4 billion at the end of March, which is nearly $10 billion higher than the federal government had forecast in its mid-year Budget update in December.
Treasury also expects GDP to fall by at least 10% in the June quarter, driven by a 16% collapse in household consumption, and and 18% collapse in both business investment and dwelling investment. The unemployment rate is also projected to roughly double to around 10%.
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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness.
Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.
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