Australia’s Treasury Sec Fraser: Nation remains on track for budget surplus in 2021

Speaking at a Senate estimates hearing in Canberra earlier on Wednesday, Australia’s Treasury Secretary John Fraser cited:

Nation remains on track for budget surplus in 2021

Confident wage growth will eventually accelerate as unemployment falls

But he also stressed that it “will take some time.”

“Just as wages slowed in response to the period of slower growth and slack in the labor market in recent years, we expect that a period of stronger growth and falling unemployment will lift wages in the next few years.”

“This process will take some time and this is reflected in our forecast profile for wages.”

“As the cyclical constraints that have weighed on the economy recede, wages growth will accelerate. This will be assisted by inflation and inflationary expectations moving higher.”