Bulletin: Australia Budget Update Charts Long Path To Recovery

MELBOURNE (S&P Global Ratings) Dec. 17, 2020--S&P Global Ratings today said that it will take years for a substantial fiscal recovery to occur in Australia. This follows the Australian government's release today of the 2020-2021 "Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook" (MYEFO), its update to the budget. Financial indicators in today's MYEFO are within the tolerances of our 'AAA' rating on Australia. We believe high iron ore prices are providing some benefit to the general government budget, as will the country's relatively quick economic recovery. The recovery could see the government's flagship stimulatory measures come in below budget and improve the revenue outlook compared with previous forecasts. A good indication of this is that about 80% of the job losses caused

...MELBOURNE (S&P Global Ratings) Dec. 17, 2020--S&P Global Ratings today said that it will take years for a substantial fiscal recovery to occur in Australia. This follows the Australian government's release today of the 2020-2021 "Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook" (MYEFO), its update to the budget. Financial indicators in today's MYEFO are within the tolerances of our '###' rating on Australia. We believe high iron ore prices are providing some benefit to the general government budget, as will the country's relatively quick economic recovery. The recovery could see the government's flagship stimulatory measures come in below budget and improve the revenue outlook compared with previous forecasts. A good indication of this is that about 80% of the job losses caused by COVID-19 have been recovered. As of Nov. 14, 2020, however, payroll jobs were still 2.9% lower than prepandemic levels. We expect unemployment to remain elevated for years. Even with this positive news, the general government...

Bulletin