Economy gets big tick Date January 17, 2013 15
Peter Martin
Months after Labor's mining tax, its carbon tax and its fourth successive budget deficit, Australia has been given the tick of approval by the world's biggest fund manager.
BlackRock is one of the world's most important buyers of government bonds, investing $US3.7 trillion worldwide. It says Australia's carbon tax and the mining tax have had at most a "marginal" impact on perceptions of the country's risk. More important has been the government's success in shrinking its budget deficit.
The fund manager's new sovereign risk update ranks Australian government bonds as the world's seventh least risky, up from 10th least risky three months ago.
No other nation has managed to jump three places in the latest survey. The finding is at odds with a claim made by federal Coalition Treasury spokesman Joe Hockey last August that Labor was "adversely impacting Australia's sovereign risk profile".
BlackRock's Australian head of fixed income, Steve Miller, said Australia's position was "exceedingly strong" and strengthening.
"The plain fact is, compared to the rest of the world, and this is what we are doing, Australia's public debt position is very, very strong.
Whether you are looking at budget balance or public debt to gross domestic product, whichever way we look at it, Australia comes out exceedingly strong."Read more:
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/economy-gets-big-tick-20130116-2ctw9.html#ixzz2IBmXQKLVRead more:
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/economy-gets-big-tick-20130116-2ctw9.html#ixzz2IBlQloU6
