Fiscal stimulus needed
Clime Investment Management has called on Canberra for an urgent summit to discuss a necessity for a fiscal stimulus to support the ailing Australian economy after the decision made by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) yesterday to cut further the cash rates to 0.5%.
The summit, which would aim to develop a fiscal stimulus package that will have broad support across Government and Opposition, business and the community, should call together leaders and finance representatives of the major political parties, the Departments of Treasury and Finance as well as representatives of small, medium and large business and community groups.
Following this, the fiscal stimulus package should be able to be rapidly implemented for maximum positive impact on the Australian economy, the firm said.
According to Clime, these were unprecedented times as the RBA called out the negative impacts of the coronavirus on global growth and also called out that policy measures have been announced in several countries, including China, to help support growth.
“These are unprecedented times, with the impacts of the coronavirus coming so soon after the devastating bushfires. The time for the Australian polity to show genuine leadership and support for the Australian economy is now,” Clime CEO Rod Bristow said.
According to him, the RBA was also “nearly out of ammunition” to provide further monetary stimulus and therefore fiscal stimulus was urgently required to prevent the Australian economy going into recession.
“We speak to thousands of Australian investors each year. Our view is the Australian public cares less about wedge politics and budget surpluses and more about maintaining an adequate standard of living and an appropriate level of support for communities.
“This has to take place by stimulating the economy by directly supporting, in particular, consumers and small businesses,” he said.
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