Unfortunately, the coronavirus and the policy response have come at a time when the Australian economy was showing signs of improvement and the budget was on a firm footing. There is a chance that the domestic economy will contract in the current quarter.
The RBA expects GDP growth of 2.0% for 2019 and 2.7% for 2020, down from the 2.3% and 2.8% projected in the November 2019 Statement on Monetary Policy. These latest forecasts include preliminary assessments of the impact of both bushfires and the coronavirus, although they stressed the high degree of uncertainty around the latter.
