Anthony Albanese’s decision to restore the $750 pandemic leave payment before a spike in COVID-19 omicron cases should be offset by budget savings, says economist Chris Richardson.
On the economic front, AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver said Australia was in for a couple of bumpy months
“It won’t send the economy backwards in the September quarter, but it would probably see a significant slowdown,” he said, particularly as households were dealing with rising cost of living and interest rates. With cost of living and rising interest rates still prominent in people’s minds, the restoration of the pandemic payment will not be the last significant budget measure Mr Albanese is called on to extend.The temporary $3 billion six-month cut to the fuel tax is set to expire on September 30, just days before the October budget and around the time economists expect the prices of goods and services to be peaking.
“There’s no easy fix for the cost of living, but we’re taking a range of actions to ease the pressure on families,” Finance Minister Grant Robertson said. “We want Kiwis to have some certainty over the coming months.”
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