Treasurer Jim Chalmers has warned the upcoming Federal Budget would be written on the “backdrop” of a deteriorating global situation and shared new detail on how a likely global recession would hit Australia. “The world is bracing for another global downturn. That’s the truth of it,” he said. “We’ve seen in the comments from the head of the IMF overnight, ...

Australia could be plunged into severe financial stress and see unemployment rates rise if the country plunges into a recession, according to lead economists. The Reserve Bank Australia (RBA) increased interest rates on Tuesday for the sixth successive month, hiking the cash rate by 25 basis points to 2.60 per cent. The bump in interest rates will see repayments on ...

Australian homeowners have been hit with another knock to their repayment efforts with the Reserve Bank of Australia announcing a fresh interest rate hike. The shift is a 0.25 per cent rise and takes the cash rate to 2.6 per cent, the highest level since 2013. It is also the sixth consecutive hike since May 2022. The RBA has continued ...

Northern Territory senator Jacinta Price has called the scrapping of the cashless debit card “an absolute shame”, with more than 17,000 people able to come off the scheme from Tuesday. A repeal Bill passed in parliament last week to axe the controversial program, which quarantined 80 per cent of a welfare recipient’s payments so they could not be withdrawn as ...

Once upon a time, an adult who still lived with their parents was considered undesirable. In 2022, especially if that adult wants any hope of ever being able to afford a property purchase of their own, it’s a necessity for many people. A new Finder survey discovered that 858,000 households have had an adult child move back home in the ...

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has delivered a grim warning that “rampant inflation, falling real wages” heralds a period of extreme global economic uncertainty. Speaking after the release of the OECD’s latest economic forecast, he’s warned that Australia is “not spared from this darker and more dangerous global outlook” amid fears of a global recession. “The OECD report shows the global economy ...

Australia’s peak social services body has called for a huge increase to Centrelink payments, claiming more Australians are skipping meals and struggling to afford medicine as a consequence of skyrocketing cost of living pressures. In a study set to be released on Tuesday, the Australian Council of Social Service said research found six in 10 Australians on income support were ...

New research shows two-thirds of Australians are planning to complete their Christmas gift purchases by the end of next month amid fears of supply chain disruptions. The survey of more than 1000 online shoppers also found more than half of respondents were feeling rising cost of living pressures and would be spending less on Christmas gifts this year. According to ...

Australian homeowners can expect rates to rise once again when the Reserve Bank meets next month. Economists are now predicting rates will increase another 0.50 percentage points in October. The central bank lifted its cash rate by 50 basis points to 2.35 per cent earlier this month, the fifth hike in as many months. However, minutes from the Reserve Bank ...

A substantial lift in tax payments and booming commodity prices are set to deliver a $50bn boost to the budget bottom line, the Treasurer has revealed. Jim Chalmers, who will hand down his first budget on October 25, on Tuesday said the improvement was welcomed but stressed it was temporary and “difficult decisions” would still need to be made. Half ...