Australia's economic recovery remains fragile: Treasurer

Retail sales in Australia have fallen unexpectedly showing the country's economic recovery was still fragile, according to Treasurer Wayne Swan.

New data released on Wednesday showed retail spending fell 0.2 percent in September when economists had expected a 0.5 percent increase.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics data also showed that retail sales fell 0.4 percent in the three months to September, which will be a drag on gross domestic product growth for the period.

The September quarter national accounts will be released next month.

"As I've been saying for some time, our recovery remains fragile and there are still some hefty challenges out there," Swan said.

"Despite the improved outlook in our region, a sustained recovery in the major advanced economies is by no means assured."

The mid-year budget review, released on Monday, showed unemployment is still expected to rise substantially, and that's assuming the stimulus remains in place.

"For these reasons we judge that the planned gradual withdrawal of stimulus remains appropriate after it reached its peak impact in the June quarter this year," Swan said.

Source:Xinhua