Finance Minister Gallagher: Australia is facing economic challenges

Australian Finance Minister Katy Gallagher voiced her concerns over the economic challenges being faced by her country after the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) reported risks for a global stagflationary scenario.

Key quotes

“The case for stagflation was a worst-case scenario, but where was no doubt the Australian economy faced challenges.”

“We have got cost of living going through the roof, we have got rising interest rates, we have got wages still stagnant and that is presenting some real challenges to people,” 

“The job for government is to look at how we can make our policies, our sensible investments drive the productive capacity of the economy.”

“They are things that will help the economy in the long term without adding to inflation in the short term.”

Also read: BIS urges decisive wave of global rate hikes to stem inflation

Market reaction

Amid increasing risks of a recession, AUD/USD remains under pressure on the 0.6900 level. Although the rebound in the S&P 500 futures is helping the aussie stage a modest bounce from 0.6907 lows. The pair is now trading at 0.6933, still down 0.24% on the day.