The economic landscape in 2009

Source: Reserve Bank of Australia
"There’s no doubt that world economic conditions deteriorated sharply in the final months of last year. Governments and central banks around the world have taken actions to support growth in response to these events, and to assist their financial sectors. But these measures will take time to work, and 2009 is looking to be a very tough year for the global economy. Australia is being affected by these events. The international deterioration has been so abrupt that it won’t be possible to avoid some short-term weakness here. Nonetheless, Australia came into this period with better momentum than most, and with more scope than most to take expansionary policy measures. That scope is being used. The transmission channels are working, and we can expect the measures that have been taken will increasingly support demand as the year goes on."