Home
Search
thewest.com.au‌‌
BusinessChevron Right Icon

Economics

Treasurer Jim Chalmers’s headline deficit was expected to be $64.1b for the coming financial year, double the underlying figure.

EconomyCommentsPremiumFine print shows Jim’s Budget deficit is double what he says

Economists are ringing the alarm that the Federal deficit will be much higher than claimed, with a whopping $94 billion needed by 2030 to fund the ‘off-budget’ NBN, National Reconstruction Fund, and more.

Matt Mckenzie

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - MAY 12: Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers delivers the 2026-27 Federal Budget at Parliament House on May 12, 2026 in Canberra, Australia. The Labor government's budget for 2026 focuses on cost-of-living relief, housing affordability, and defence spending, as Treasurer Jim Chalmers faces pressure to deliver economic stability ahead of a federal election cycle. (Photo by Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty Images)

EconomyPremiumTreasurer details $10b productivity hit list

Jim Chalmers is promising to rev up Australia’s economic engine with a $10 billion red tape cutting plan hoping to raise the country’s growth “speed limit”.

Matt Mckenzie

Fresh NAB data shows businesses are experiencing a margin squeeze, with input costs rising faster than they can increase selling price.

EconomyCommentsPremiumFirms brace for more price pain but no room to pass it on

Businesses are bracing for more price rises in input costs in the coming months, a senior economist says, at a time when there’s little room to pass it on to already-crunched consumers.

Cheyanne Enciso

Higher interest rates and an oil shock generated by the Middle East war are expected to slow demand and lower economic growth. 

EconomyCommentsPremiumWhy this big four bank is optimistic the RBA will hold rates

ANZ expects the Reserve Bank will keep interest rates on hold for months after three inflation-fighting hikes this year.

Matt Mckenzie

A signed 2026 West Coast jersey was put up at the silent auction and initially attracted no buyers.

Herd on the TerraceCommentsPremiumBig birds, small bids: Salt rubbed into Eagles’ wounds

Seasoned West Coast supporters had a bit of salt rubbed into their wounds at a fundraising dinner to celebrate women in leadership.

Treasurer Rita Saffioti delivers her State Budget speech in Parliament.

EconomyPremiumWhat top ratings agency thinks of Saffioti’s budget

A big rise in infrastructure spending will “take the gloss off” WA’s Budget but credit agency S&P Global Ratings reckons the State’s outlook remains the best in the country.

Matt Mckenzie

Premier Roger Cook and Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti release the budget

EconomyPremiumREVEALED: Rita Saffioti’s mind-bending WA tax grab

WA’s tax revenue has rocketed nearly 68 per cent over five years as surging house prices and a hot jobs market deliver a bumper windfall to the State Government.

Matt Mckenzie

Premier Roger Cook and Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti release the budget

EconomyCommentsPremiumTreasurer plays down spending amid shock inflation forecast

Rita Saffioti says a Budget full of ‘record spending’ pledges will not worsen inflation, while it is too early to know exactly how much economic damage WA will cop from the Middle East war.

Matt Mckenzie

Premier Roger Cook and Treasurer Rita Saffioti ahead of Thursday’s State Budget.

WA Budget 2026CommentsPremiumWA’s $2b iron ore windfall fuels stamp duty reform plea

Economists say a ‘reform Budget’ is needed in WA, not another ‘stimulus Budget’, as Rita Saffioti prepares to bank a multibillion-dollar iron ore windfall and record stamp duty receipts.

Jessica Page

Economists at major banks predict Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock will announce a rate hike. (Susie Dodds/AAP PHOTOS)

EconomyCommentsPremiumCompany chiefs warn consumers paying the price of war

Consumers are paying the price of the war, some of the nation’s biggest company chiefs say, with the worst inflation in nearly three years prompting a third interest rate hike this year.

Cheyanne Enciso and Aaron Patrick

RBA governor Michele Bullock and Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

RBAVideoCommentsPain to persist, warns Bullock as RBA wipes out 2025 cuts

The Reserve Bank has raised interest rates by another 25 basis points to 4.35 per cent, undoing last year’s relief. Governor Michele Bullock hinted at more pain and cautioned against higher government spending.

Stephen Johnson

West Australians splurged on clothing and footwear, recreation and culture as well as miscellaneous goods and services.

EconomyCommentsPremiumEven with higher petrol prices, we can’t stop spending

Higher petrol prices may have dominated WA household spending in March, but it appears consumers still have spare cash to splurge on discretionary items — paving the way for an interest rate hike on Tuesday.

Cheyanne Enciso

Pressure is mounting for Jim Chalmers to sharpen the axe in his upcoming Federal Budget.

EconomyCommentsPremiumDeloitte issues grim warning on ‘structurally flawed’ Budget

Pressure is mounting for Jim Chalmers to sharpen the axe in his upcoming Federal Budget as economists from Deloitte warn years of revenue windfalls have ‘papered over’ structural flaws in the nation’s finances.

Matt Mckenzie

Jim Chalmers says he ‘wishes’ the Federal Budget was getting the kind of bump some economists have forecast from higher commodities prices thanks to the war.

EconomyCommentsTreasurer talks down hopes for war-driven boost to Budget

Jim Chalmers has hosed down speculation that his upcoming Budget will score a big revenue boost from tax reform and the Middle East war.

Matt Mckenzie

Roger Cook press conference at Pan Pacific Hotel on Tuesday morning

MiningCommentsPremiumPremier urges industrial peace in the Pilbara

Premier Roger Cook has told WA’s resources giants that industrial harmony will not ‘come free of charge’ as he urges a resolution to union pay fights in the Pilbara.

Matt Mckenzie

Developed countries have been scrambling to secure fuel supply but with almost a billion barrels of oil knocked out by the Middle East war, elevated prices are inevitable.

Oil & GasPremium‘Critical point’: Why world can't escape oil shock

Developed countries have been scrambling to secure fuel supply but with almost a billion barrels of oil knocked out by the Middle East war, elevated prices are inevitable.

Bloomberg

Woodside chair Richard Goyder (pictured) says oil and gas companies should get more credit for investing billions of dollars into Australia as Senate scrutiny over the industry’s tax contribution heats up.

EconomyVideoCommentsPremiumEnergy giants deserve some credit in tax fight: Goyder

Woodside chair Richard Goyder says oil and gas companies should get more credit for investing billions of dollars into Australia as Senate scrutiny over the industry’s tax contribution heats up.

Matt Mckenzie

Treasurer Jim Chalmers and AMP chief economist Shane Oliver

EconomyVideoCommentsPremiumChalmers urged to cut $100b from budget to fight inflation

AMP chief economist Shane Oliver has urged Treasurer Jim Chalmers to cut $100 billion from the Federal Budget to help fight inflation.

Matt Mckenzie

Morgan Stanley says companies will struggle to pass on soaring costs now than in the COVID-19 era.

EconomyCommentsPremiumCompanies face uphill battle to pass on war costs

A leading analyst says the ability for Australian companies to pass on soaring costs, fuelled by the war, to consumers will be more challenging than the COVID-19 era given interest rates are rising.

Cheyanne Enciso

Westpac chief economist Luci Ellis

updated
updated
EconomyCommentsPremium
updated
Westpac pours cold water on IMF’s ‘unhelpful’ recession talk

A big four bank economist has hit out at “unhelpful” recession talk sparked by the International Monetary Fund’s worst-case forecast for the Middle East conflict.

Matt Mckenzie

Iron ore generates about a quarter of WA’s income.

EconomyCommentsPremiumWhy WA would be most at risk if Iran war rages on

WA’s economy was among the strongest in the world through the GFC and pandemic but new analysis warns a prolonged Middle East war could bring that lucky run to an end.

Matt Mckenzie

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the low jobless figure was a good sign, without mentioning already-high inflation.

EconomyCommentsPremiumSteady jobless rate in March now makes rate hike more likely

Australia’s unemployment rate remained steady at 4.3 per cent in March - the first full month of the Iran war - making an interest rate rise next month more likely.

Stephen Johnson

Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

EconomyCommentsPremiumIMF warning pours fuel on the inflation fire

Australian families will suffer some of the highest inflation in the developed world this year with prices expected to rise 4 per cent, as an energy shock puts the global economy on the brink.

Matt Mckenzie

The Reserve Bank of Australia has already delivered two successive interest rate rises this year, with another hike highly expected next month.

EconomyCommentsPremium‘Another cost-of-living shock’: Aussies brace for more pain

Australian households are bracing for more financial pain in the coming months as soaring fuel prices coupled with higher-for-longer interest rates crunch budgets.

Cheyanne Enciso