The delayed October budget offers the government an opportunity to revisit its policy settings, set out its views on the outlook for the Australian economy, and outline the prospects for the fiscal accounts.
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.
The Corona Virus pandemic has meant that this year seen Australia suffer its deepest recession in the post-war period, it has also triggered an unprecedented government policy response including a dramatic surge in budgetary support centred around the new JobKeeper program; all of which has forced Canberra to push back the budget until 6 October.
Join Mark Thirlwell, the AICD’s Chief Economist, for an assessment of the new budget and its implications covering:
- How has Canberra adjusted its policy settings in the light of more than half a year of the hit from COVID-19?
- What do the latest Treasury forecasts say about the economic consequences of the pandemic and the path to recovery?
- What is the projected size of the toll on the fiscal accounts, on the medium-term trajectory of the budget, and on Australia’s debt and debt service profile?