Australia has officially escaped recession, with the latest data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showing that the Australian economy grew by 0.4 percent (seasonally adjusted) in the March quarter.
A recession, defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction, seemed imminent when the nation’s economy declined in the last quarter of 2008. However, the growth figures have renewed hope that Australia will be one of the few countries to escape the global downturn relatively unscathed.
The ABS noted that household expenditure, exports and imports have contributed to growth in the past four quarters. Exports contributed 2.2 percent to the gross domestic product in the March quarter, up from 1.7 percent in the December quarter.
