Australia's Federal Treasurer's view

Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan says the Australian economy is strong enough to withstand what he describes as the worst global conditions in 25 years.However, Mr Swan says there is no doubt that the economy is slowing.Speaking ahead of this morning's release of the national account figures for the June quarter, the Treasurer told Lyndal Curtis on ABC Radio's AM program Australia was facing tough global economic circumstances."There's no doubt the economy is slowing and it is slowing on the back of the global credit crunch, it's slowing on the back of the 10 interest rate rises that occurred under the Liberal Party," he said."But the extent of that slowing will only be clear when we see the national accounts today."Mr Swan says Australia cannot escape the effects of the credit crunch but maintains the economy is in a good position."I think it's important to get this into perspective," he said."There is a lot of pessimism around on the back of the global credit crunch and the impact it has had, particularly on global stock markets."But here in Australia we have many advantages over the rest of the world."
Yesterday the Reserve Bank (RBA) cut interest rates by 0.25 per cent to 7 per cent but Mr Swan would not comment on whether there should be another cut in the next few months."What I except responsibility for doing is putting in place a disciplined fiscal policy, an investment for the future that will promote growth in a lower inflationary environment," he said."If we want to get interest rates down over time we've got to get inflation down."