Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan warned on Monday that rising unemployment remained a threat, although Australia is in better shape than the rest of the world one year after the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
The demise of the U.S. investment bank was the breaking point of a growing global financial crisis that triggered a 30 trillion U.S. dollars (35 trillion Australian dollars) slump in global share prices and caused debt markets to freeze.
Since then about 12 million people have lost their job in the resulting global recession.
New data released on Monday showed that while lending in Australia remains erratic, it is performing better than a year ago.
"Australia through a combination of circumstances, including economic stimulus and fantastic community efforts, has come through this global recession in far better shape than the rest of the world," Swan told parliament.
However, he said the International Monetary Fund warned it is dangerous to assume the crisis is over and that Australia is still facing big challenges, including rising unemployment.
Some 200,000 jobs have already been lost in Australia in the past year.
"Regrettably I think unemployment will continue to rise as the effects of the global recession do continue to wash through our economy," Swan said.
Source: Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article