Wayne Swan (Lilley, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Solomon for his question. We did receive the IMF report early this morning. It is a report card on the resilience of the Australian economy—a good report card on the government’s plans for it. Like the government, the IMF is saying that we can expect some slowing as a result of the fallout from the global financial crisis. But the report also adds weight to the government’s view that, whilst we are not immune from global difficulties, we are certainly well placed to withstand the fallout. If I could just quote from the IMF report, this is what the IMF executive directors have said about Australia’s strength through responsible economic management:

Looking ahead, Directors considered that the sound macroeconomic framework should permit Australia to weather the global downturn and to contain inflationary pressures.

The IMF report also went on to give the government’s reform effort a very, very big tick. The report strongly commends the government’s budget—

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