Australia 'outperforming' rest of world

Treasurer Wayne Swan says Australia continues to outperform other nations even as
the impact of the global financial crisis washes through the economy.
The federal government will get a better picture of the economic outlook when growth
figures are released on Wednesday.
Economists are tipping the national accounts figures for the September quarter will
show a rise in gross domestic product (GDP) of 0.4 per cent, taking growth for the
year to 0.7 per cent.
However, CommSec chief economist Craig James is far from certain that the economy
managed to grow in the quarter.
He noted that key spending components of GDP, such as inventories and net exports,
were "pulling in opposite directions".
"But even if the economy did go backwards slightly, the indications are that growth
will rebound this quarter and pick up pace through 2010, underpinned by housing and
engineering construction," Mr James said in a research note.
In his weekly economic note, Mr Swan used an analysis of national accounts data,
released last week, to highlight the strength of the economy.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics release on the Australian System of National
Accounts said the economy expanded by 1.1 per cent in 2008-09.
"(The data) showed that the Australian economy continued to grow in 2008-09 at a
time when every other major advanced economy experienced deep recession," he said.
"Real GDP grew by 1.1 per cent in year-average terms in 2008-09, confirming that the
economy would not have grown throughout the global financial crisis without our
fiscal stimulus.
"In stark contrast, the major advanced economies contracted by 2.9 per cent in
year-average terms over the same period, including historic contractions of 2.2 per
cent in the US, 3 per cent in the UK and 5.1 per cent in Japan."
Homeowners will also get a taste of the Reserve Bank of Australia's thinking on
interest rates this week, with the release of the minutes of the bank's December
meeting on Tuesday.
At its December 1 meeting, the bank lifted the cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.75
per cent.