In its latest economic update, the OECD has slashed Australia’s economic growth forecasts for this year and next.

The OECD’s Interim Economic Outlook has substantially downgraded Australia’s economic growth forecasts to be only 1.7 per cent this year and 2.0 per cent next year.

This represents a downgrade of 0.6 percentage points in 2019, which is twice as large as the downgrades to global growth and G20 as a whole.

In both 2019 and 2020, OECD downgrades to Australia’s growth forecasts are bigger than those for the United States, United Kingdom and the euro area.

These updated forecasts make a mockery of Josh Frydenberg’s comments that the Morrison Government has the right policy settings. 

Weak growth like this is the inevitable consequence of a Liberal Government with a political strategy but not an economic plan.

Right when Australians need and expect a plan from the Morrison Government to get the economy going again all they get instead is finger-pointing, blame-shifting and wedge politics.

It is time Josh Frydenberg and Scott Morrison brought forward a budget update to fix their forecasts and properly outline an economic plan that supports the floundering economy and better safeguards it from global risks.

SATURDAY, 21 SEPTEMBER 2019