A quirk of the calendar introduced by an Italian pope 438 years ago may be enough to stave off a negative quarter of economic growth
A quirk of the calendar introduced by an Italian pope 438 years ago may prevent Australia posting its first quarter of negative growth in almost a decade.
Some economists have warned the combined impact of the bushfires and coronavirus will see the economy contract in the March quarter. It would be the first time the Australian economy has suffered a quarter of negative growth since March 2011.The fires alone are tipped to have cut growth by 0.2 percentage points while the virus could slice economic activity by up to half a percentage point with the tourism, education and retail sectors most at risk.
KPMG chief economist Brendan Rynne says just the extra day of a leap year will be worth $5.2 billion in economic output for the national accounts.Daily GDP since the start of 2018 has averaged almost $5.2 billion. Over the same period, each quarter has seen the economy grow by an average $2.5 billion.
"This technical outcome will not change the experiences of households and businesses in the current economic environment - the economy feels weak because it is weak."
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