Australia today unveiled surprise economic growth of 0.4%, defying widespread expectations of a technical recession thanks largely to a leap in exports.
Most analysts had expected Australia to slide into its first recession since the early 1990s but stronger-than-expected export figures released just a day earlier boosted the GDP figure for the March quarter, economists said. That averted a second successive quarterly contraction.
The Australian government has pumped over $50 billion into the economy since late 2008 in a bid to stave off recession, while the central bank has aggressively cut interest rates to spur demand.
Despite the positive news, some economists said the Australian economy still faced tough times ahead, with large falls expected in employment, business investment and company profit reports.
