More Good News on Economic Growth

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade, Make Vaile, has welcomed OECD forecasts of continuing strong economic growth for Australia.

"The OECD forecast of 3.7% growth in 2007 is good news for Australia and reinforces the Coalition Government's credentials as a sound economic manager," Mr Vaile said.

The OECD Economic Outlook was released yesterday at the OECD Ministerial conference in Paris which Mr Vaile is currently attending.

The report identified the need for Governments to take advantage of the global upswing to consolidate their fiscal management processes and reduce the dependence on public sector debt.

"Australia has already achieved this in recent years through ongoing economic reforms that have eliminated net government debt and produced nine budget surpluses in ten years.

"At the same time we are continuing to invest in important social infrastructure such as health and aged care.

"We have struck a good balance which is delivering outcomes for Australians, but we need to continue this economic reform process and the current budget is evidence of this," Mr Vaile said.

Whilst the report highlighted that oil prices are likely to remain high for some time it also indicated positive economic growth forecasts for our key trading partners Japan and USA.

"I was also pleased to see the OECD reinforce the need for stronger commitment by all members to conclude the current round of global trade talks this year," Mr Vaile said.

Contact: Mr Vaile's Office 02 6277 7420, Departmental 02 6261 1555, Austrade 02 9390 2701