Treasury is revising all the numbers for the midyear budget update as economists warn of a difficult six months ahead

• Get our new political email, free app or daily news podcast

Jim Chalmers has revealed December’s midyear budget update will project weaker growth and higher unemployment, as economists warn of a difficult six months ahead for the Australian economy.

Two days after a senior Reserve Bank official foreshadowed the potential for another interest rate rise in under two weeks’ time, the treasurer in a speech on Friday morning will say “higher inflation is putting people under pressure, tighter monetary policy is weighing on domestic activity, and we can see that in the softening of the labour market”.

When MSCI floated the idea of downgrading Indonesia to a Standalone Market, anxiety quickly swept through Jakarta’s financial community. Predictably, alarming headlines immediately pointed to foreign capital flight, stock prices dropped and local regulators quickly moved to calm jittery investors. Yet, treating this stock market tremor as a proxy for Indonesia’s overall economic health represents […]

The post Don’t mistake Indonesia’s MSCI scare for economic weakness appeared first on Asia Times.