Monday, February 10, 2020

Coronavirus threatens Australia’s record run of economic growth


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https://www.ft.com/content/9c564f70-47ba-11ea-aee2-9ddbdc86190d

Australia’s three-decade unbroken run of economic growth is in large part due to its success in tapping the rise of its largest trading partner, China.

But as the deadly coronavirus outbreak shuts down a swath of the Chinese economy, just as Australia suffers its own crisis in the form of the devastating wildfires emergency, economists are warning that the 28-year stretch is under threat.

“There is a very real risk that gross domestic product will contract as a result of the combined drag from the bushfires and coronavirus,” said Sarah Hunter, economist at BIS Oxford Economics. “Whether we go from this to a recession critically depends on how the outbreak unfolds.”



SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 29: Tourists are seen at Mrs Macquarie's Chair on January 29, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. The coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China, has now killed 132 people - mostly in China - and as of Wednesday morning had 6,000 confirmed cases while thousands more people remain under observation. Five cases have been confirmed in Australia, four in New South Wales and one in Victoria. (Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images)

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