Australia to Try to Slow Economy, Official Says
Australia will be taking steps in the near future to slow its economy and encourage savings in an effort to tackle its burgeoning current account deficit, according to Treasurer Ralph Willis.
Willis said the nation’s four-year drought and last year’s generally depressed commodities markets caused imports to soar 20% in 1994.
“We’ve made it clear that we intend to further tighten fiscal policy,” said Willis, who was in Indonesia for the second annual meeting of the Finance Ministers of the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation group. “We have a strong pickup in investment and strong growth in capital imports at the same time as we have the drought knocking us about on the export side.”
This is a real problem for Willis and other Labor Party government leaders who will face elections next March. More growth in the country’s current account balance and in Australia’s budget deficit could pose a threat to Australian growth and choke off its economic recovery, making for angry voters.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
