Yesterday
The budget in five key charts
The five key graphs to understand the government’s latest federal budget.
- Edmund Tadros
Decade of deficits to spark debt interest surge
While Treasurer Jim Chalmers was spruiking debt in 2023-24 being $904 billion, gross debt is forecast to rise sharply in the years ahead.
- Ronald Mizen
Treasury expects unemployment to climb to 4.5pc by this time next year
Sluggish hiring could lead cautious households already grappling with higher interest rates to save rather than spend the windfall from tax cuts.
- Michael Read
$24b in front-loaded spending risks fuelling inflation
Spending and taxing decisions in this budget will tip an extra $24 billion into the economy, jarring with the government’s claims that it is putting downward pressure on inflation.
- John Kehoe
Real wages forecast to grow by 0.5pc a year
Workers will enjoy substantial real wage growth for the next three years, according to Treasury, even as pay and inflation forecasts clash with the Reserve Bank.
- David Marin-Guzman
- Opinion
- Federal budget
Industry policy will win votes but very little else
Why not accept the gift of China’s subsidised exports, and use the money we save to deal with our many more serious challenges?
- Alan Mitchell
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Where Australians are spending their larger pay packets
Australian household income is up, but so is spending on some undesirables. The result is what our retail CEOs are talking a lot about - shopping for value.
- Anthony Macdonald
Why would anyone want to invest in Melbourne’s housing market?
Some experts are predicting Melbourne’s housing market to bounce back strongly in the next two years, but others warn about getting in too early.
- Nila Sweeney
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Meme stock stupidity is back at the dumbest possible time
The $6 billion jump in the value of crappy US retailer GameStop is a sign of pure speculative excess.
- James Thomson
Chalmers rejects ‘political trick’ inflation reduction claim
Former RBA board member Warwick McKibbin levelled the claim ahead of Tuesday’s budget, while economists warned bill relief would only stoke consumer demand.
- Ronald Mizen and Michael Read
This Month
Rate rise still priced in despite Chalmers’ ‘optimistic’ forecasts
Bond markets are continuing to bet that the RBA will have to lift rates this year, despite new government forecasts predicting inflation will fall faster than the central bank expects.
- Updated
- Alex Gluyas
The little-known budget figure you should care about
The figure, known as the ‘table of truth’, cuts through the spin and shows how the treasurer’s saving and spending decisions affect the bottom line.
- Michael Read
First home buyers purchase from investors in $780,000 sale
This Central Coast home’s proximity to the M1 highway made it popular with tradies commuting to Sydney – and with rates outlooks stabilising, they were confident about buying.
- Michael Bleby
Markets on edge ahead of budget cash splash
Australian shares are set to edge lower on Monday as they wait to assess the impact of federal budget spending on the central bank’s path to an interest rate cut.
- Cecile Lefort
Fed’s Logan says still too early to think about rate cuts
Lorie Logan, the president of the Dallas Fed, flagged uncertainties over how restrictive monetary policy is.
- Catarina Saraiva
Bank of England boss ‘optimistic’ interest rate cuts are coming
The BoE left its benchmark unchanged at 5.25 per cent, but the UK economy is looking ripe for a rate cut.
- Updated
- Hans van Leeuwen
Michele Bullock’s run of good news may be about to end
RBA governor Michele Bullock has proven a better communicator than her predecessor Philip Lowe. But her real test may still be yet to come.
- Ronald Mizen
- Exclusive
- Inflation
RBA board split in doubt as Libs dig in
The impasse between Jim Chalmers and Angus Taylor means the new RBA interest rate setting board will not be up and running by its planned start date of July 1.
- Michael Read
- Opinion
- AFR Weekend
RBA’s credibility at risk as central banks confront interference
The contradictions in the Reserve Bank of Australia’s communications reveal policy conflicts that could erode its already embattled credibility.
- Christopher Joye
Business loan demand spikes, keeping inflation fears alive
CBA, the country’s largest lender, says a strong labour market is driving “robust” demand from companies, which could push up prices, economists warn.
- James Eyers and Lucas Baird
