COVID-19 has radically transformed Australia’s fiscal outlook. What will the budget include this year and how will it impact the economy, different socio-economic groups, and different business sector risks?
Mark Thirlwell MAICD
Chief Economist, Australian Institute of Company Directors
Mark’s prior experience includes five years as Chief Economist for Austrade, most recently as Head of Research overseeing a team delivering research and analysis of Australia’s international trade and investment profile, including Tourism Research Australia. Before joining Austrade, Mark spent ten years as the inaugural Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Economy Program. He started his career as an economist at the Bank of England and subsequently held senior economist positions with J P Morgan and EFIC. Mark holds economics degrees from Oxford and Cambridge universities and a qualification in Applied Finance from Macquarie university.
2020 saw old ambitions to get the budget ‘back in the black’ be trashed in favour of big increases in debt and deficits. More than $251 billion of direct fiscal support was directed at the economy. Join AICD Chief Economist Mark Thirlwell for a look at how this year’s Budget grapples with our new economic order outlining:
With an economic recovery now well underway understand how the Budget is likely to deal with some of the fiscal scars of the pandemic.