Unprecedented Employment Focused Budget Polarises Opinion
(07 October 2020 – Australia) Institutional enterprises through to small businesses across sectors including construction, agriculture and housing featured prominently in Australian fiscal measures designed to kick start the economy out of the COVID-19 induced recession.
With the largest forecast deficit of A$213 billion in Australia since World War II, businesses and economists ran out of superlatives to describe the scale and scope of the deficit and stimulus plans.
While the macro figures and income tax stole the limelight, big ticket measures targeted at key sectors of the economy are all designed to fight the impacts of the recession and support growth through a jobs-led re-bound.
“Extraordinary times lead to extraordinary outcomes. It is the economic support provided by such fiscal policy efforts that is a vital part of the path to recovery” said CBA Chief Economist Stephen Halmarick
“This support has been enhanced in the Budget through a combination of income support programs, health related spending, income tax cuts, employment support programs, infrastructure spending and a focus on regional spending” the CBA Global Markets and Economic Research team stated in their Federal Budget 2020/21 Update.
“The budget represents the biggest-ever fiscal response to an economic downturn in Australian history. While this is entirely appropriate given we are in the midst of the worst conditions we have seen since the Great Depression, this does come with a record high deficit of A$213 billion, and that is projected to balloon to A$966 billion in 2024. Given the number of measures that target the small business sector in this Budget, the Federal Government has clearly acknowledged the role small and family businesses have to play in the nation’s economic recovery” commented the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Kate Carnell
“This is what we need at the moment because one of the key problems we have is a lack of confidence of businesses to invest, confidence to hire another person and indeed confidence at a household level to invest in the future. What matters for Wesfarmers is, the more people that are in jobs, the more income in households, the more that small businesses are investing, that directly benefits many of our businesses” stated Wesfarmers CEO, Rob Scott.
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