Full weight of credit crunch arrives on Australia’s doorstep ?

AUSTRALIA’S budget surplus is history. That’s the upshot of the government’s plan to spend A$42bn ($26,5bn) on grants and infrastructure to keep the economy out of recession. It will produce a A$22,5bn shortfall, the first since fiscal 2001-02. Given the state of the global economy, that’s more than appropriate. The implications of this go beyond Australia’s 21-million people. It’s as clear an indication as any that no economy, small or large, will escape the global crisis unscathed. Or, as Bill Evans, Westpac Banking’s chief economist, quips: “No one gets out of this one alive.” Australia had been a prime candidate for avoiding…

Read More