Widespread floods that have inundated large parts of Australia's southeast will dent the country's economic growth and increase inflation, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Friday, ahead of next week's federal budget.
Floods will likely detract a quarter of a percentage point from GDP growth in the December quarter, and add 0.1 percentage points to inflation in the December quarter and again in the March quarter, Chalmers said during a media briefing.
"It is too early for us to put a very precise price tag on the flooding that we are seeing through such large swathes of Australia, but we do know that there will be consequences for the economy and for the budget," Chalmers told reporters.
(Reporting by Renju Jose; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
