As he had promised to do almost since the day he became treasurer, Jim Chalmers has presented a gloomy set of forecasts for the Australian economy in his first formal economic statement to the new parliament on Thursday.
Inflation is now forecast to peak at 7.75% in the December quarter of this year.
That’s higher than the Reserve Bank’s most recent (informal) forecast peak of 7%, and way above the 4.25% forecast in the March budget for the year to June, and the 3% forecast in that budget for the year to June 2023.
