CANBERRA, Oct 21 (NNN-AAP) – Flooding in Australia’s south-east will harm the country’s projected economic growth, the treasurer confirmed.
Ahead of handing down his first federal budget on Tuesday, Jim Chalmers, today said, modelling suggests, floods in Tasmania, New South Wales and Victoria will wipe 0.25 percent off, gross domestic product (GDP) growth, in the final quarter of 2022.
Thousands of homes and businesses have been affected by the floods, with more rain expected over the weekend.
The Treasury forecasts, the floods will drive the price of fruit and vegetables up by eight percent, over the next six months.
However, inflation is still expected to peak at 7.75 percent. Chalmers said, the big ongoing contributor to inflation increasingly will be the impact of these natural disasters, and the impact of higher electricity prices.
The Labour government said, its first budget since winning May’s election will have a focus on addressing the rising cost of living.
It will include about 1.5 billion Australian dollars (about 877 million U.S. dollars) in previously announced emergency payments for flood victims, and a three-billion Australian dollar (1.8- billion U.S. dollar) reserve fund, to respond to future disasters.
“We don’t know yet whether that three billion Australian dollars will be sufficient, but we consider it prudent,” Chalmers said at a press conference, in Canberra, today.
“This is just an initial estimate. The costs could be even more significant, but responding to natural disasters and building resilience in our economy, will absolutely be central features of the budget that I hand out next Tuesday night.”
