SYDNEY, Mar 4: Australia’s economy expanded slower than forecast in the last three months of 2014, data showed today, fuelling expectations the central bank will further cut interest rates to record lows.
The Australian Bureaus of Statistics said growth came in at 0.5 per cent quarter on quarter in the three months to December, and 2.5 per cent over the previous year.
That was below analysts’ expectations of 0.7 per cent quarterly growth and 2.6 per cent over the year. However, it beat the revised 0.4 per cent quarterly expansion in July-September.
Wednesday’s figures are the latest to highlight Australia’s struggle to transition from an unprecedented mining-investment boom with non-resources industries struggling to fill the gap.
Treasurer Joe Hockey told reporters “2.5 per cent for the year in the face of the massive transition in the Australian economy is a good outcome. It’s right on track with around about where we were expecting to be”.
He added: “Australia is still performing well by international comparisons. Our economy over the past year has grown faster than the United States, Germany and obviously Japan and other key trading partners such as Hong Kong and Singapore.”
The Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates to a new record low of 2.25 per cent in February in a bid to support growth in the non-mining sectors.
And while it kept them on hold Tuesday it has adopted an easing bias, cautioning that “growth is continuing at a below-trend pace, with domestic demand growth overall quite weak”.
Despite growing talk of another rate cut the Australian dollar rose to 78.31 US cents after the figures were released from 78.15 cents before.
While overall growth was subdued in the fourth-quarter, “some of the detail was encouraging”, Barclays’ chief economist for Australia Kieran Davies told AFP.
“We had the strongest increase in consumer spending in a few years and non-mining business investment looks to be doing a bit better,” he added.
Net exports continued to support growth, expanding 0.7 percentage points for the quarter while consumer spending rose 0.6 percentage points. Business inventories weakened, falling 0.6 percentage points.
The central bank last month cut its growth forecast for this year to 2.25-3.25 per cent, from a November estimate of 2.50-3.50 per cent, as it warned that unemployment was likely to rise.
The jobless rate has steadily risen over the past year, jumping to a 12-year high of 6.4 per cent in January, while consumer and public spending has mostly remained soft. (AGENCIES)
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