Report: Australia well positioned to ride out economic crisis

While global economic conditions are likely to remain shaky in the short-term, Australia looks set to ride out the crisis better than most other developed nations, according to Dun & Bradstreet‘s quarterly Global Economic & Risk Outlook Report released today.

The report cites government stimulus measures and the gradual recovery of stock values as factors nurturing economic recovery, but states that these alone will not guarantee the sustained improvement of global economic conditions.

Negative factors such as high unemployment, tight credit and increased government borrowing sees D&B forecasting that global GDP will contract by 2.8 percent in 2009 before returning to growth of 1.3 percent in 2010.

The report confirms that the Rudd government’s stimulus measures are having a positive effect on short-term economic activity and suggests that Australia’s “low level of net debt provides ample scope for further stimulus should the outlook for economic growth worsen appreciably”.

However, the outlook for Australian exporters is somewhat bleaker, with governments in some target markets having increasing protectionist policies in response to recession.