Reserve Bank of Australia Deputy Governor Guy Debelle expressed optimism on Tuesday that the Australian economy grew in the third quarter of 2020 despite complications from COVID-19. He added that an unemployment rate below 6 percent is a reasonable goal, commenting that the effect of the economic downturn in the state of Victoria is less than previously feared.
Debelle refused to comment regarding the possibility of the Bank expanding its asset purchase program.
“At the moment it looks like the September quarter for the country probably recorded positive growth rather than slightly negative,” he said, “The growth elsewhere in the country was more than the drag from Victoria and the drag from Victoria was possibly a little less than what we guessed back in August,” he added.
He also said that it’s become extremely difficult to forecast now as compared to the past.
