BlackRock positive on Australia
The latest BlackRock Sovereign Risk Index (BSRI) has treated the Australian economy positively, but it was an assessment based on the presumption of the Government delivering a Budget surplus.
Australia, in fact, moved up the BSRI rankings along with both China and New Zealand, with the BlackRock analysis noting that this country appeared to have weathered the slow-down in Chinese economic growth.
"When China sneezes, its raw materials supplier Australia catches a cold, investors say these days," the analysis said. However it said that in BSRI terms, "the lucky country appears to be taking its flu shots".
"It has remained largely immune to China's slowdown in economic growth last year," it said.
The analysis said Australia's steady march up the index accelerated in the most recent quarter when it jumped three notches to seventh place, mainly thanks to an improved primary balance.
"Increases in government receipts have more than offset an uptick in spending, and the country is expecting a surplus this fiscal year," the BlackRock analysis said.
The Treasurer, Wayne Swan, announced recently that the Government was no longer confident a surplus could be delivered.
Recommended for you
As the first quarter of 2024 comes to a close, Money Management looks back on the corporate regulator’s bans and AFSL cancellations in the financial advice sector.
Insignia Financial is holding ‘relatively steady’ onto its rank as Australia’s second-largest financial advice licensee after the Godfrey Pembroke exit but Count is hot on its heels.
Liberal senator Slade Brockman has said the government needs to have a “cold hard look” at the level of regulation in the financial advice space and the costs of running a business.
FAAA chief executive, Sarah Abood, has warned changes in the first tranche of the QAR legislation around advice fees documentation could create more work for advisers rather than less.