Australia may pay for racking up a decade of deficits, leaving the Federal Government with no money to cushion the blow of a recession:
The International Monetary Fund has sounded a warning that the world is at risk of a sharp downturn, as the global economy slows faster than expected amid trade conflicts and rising debts.
China yesterday reported that 2018 had brought its slowest economic growth in almost 30 years of 6.6 per cent, highlighting a key IMF concern, that China’s slowdown was deeper than expected.
It could actually be worse than we’re told:
Economists expect China’s official GDP growth to slow to as low as 6 per cent this year, although many argue the official figures were not to be trusted and true growth could be as low as 4 per cent.
And Australia will suffer worse than most as China slows:
In 2017-18, China was by far Australia’s largest trading partner, contributing $194.6 billion worth of imports and exports. This was more than the combined value of trade with Japan and the United States ($147.8 billion).
Which makes our politicians seem even more reckless in having loaded us with debt over the past decade, leaving them with little money for stimulus spending if the economy tanks:
Net debt
Autralia economy news
