Australia grows below expectations

Australia’s first-quarter gross domestic product rose by 2.3 per cent on an annual basis, slightly below analysts’ expectations. The country’s economy grew by 0.2 per cent in the first quarter from the previous period, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said. That was the slowest rate of growth in the 18 months since the country emerged from a Covid-19 lockdown in September 2021. Economists had forecast growth of 2.4 per cent, compared with 2.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022. Australia’s economy grew at a slower pace in the first quarter of the year than in the previous period, as higher prices and rising interest rates dampened consumer spending. Quarterly GDP grew by 0.2 per cent, compared with economists’ expectations of 0.3 per cent.