Newspaper icon
The latest issue of Financial Standard now available as an e-newspaper
READ NOW

Economics

Trump slugs Australia with new 'forced-labour' tariffs

KARREN VERGARA  |  FRIDAY, 24 JUL 2026
US President Donald Trump will slug trading partners, including Australia, with new tariffs of 10% to 12.5% on the premise of pressuring foreign governments to strengthen bans on "the importation of goods produced with forced labour."

Middle East conflict, inflation continues to weigh on confidence

MATTHEW WAI  |  WEDNESDAY, 22 JUL 2026
Although consumer confidence has increased slightly according to ANZ's index, weaker personal finance and the economic outlook continue to halt confidence.

IMF downgrades Australian outlook

ELIZA BAVIN  |  THURSDAY, 9 JUL 2026
The International Monetary Fund has downgraded the outlook for Australia while the RBA's Sarah Hunter has signalled another cash rate hike could be on the cards.

Inflation cools, RBA facing 'uncomfortable trade-off'

ELIZA BAVIN  |  WEDNESDAY, 24 JUN 2026
While inflation has cooled, it remains stubbornly above the Reserve Bank's target range, putting the central bank in a tricky position, experts say.

Vale Alan Greenspan

ELIZA BAVIN  |  TUESDAY, 23 JUN 2026
The American economist and former chair of the Federal Reserve passed away at 100 years old.

RBA on hold, rate cuts expected

ELIZA BAVIN  |  WEDNESDAY, 17 JUN 2026
The Reserve Bank of Australia kept interest rates on hold at its June meeting with economists suggesting the next move could be a rate cut.

Productivity growth is 'going from bad to worse': PC

ELIZA BAVIN  |  FRIDAY, 12 JUN 2026
Labour productivity fell by 0.6% in the March quarter and over the year to March has grown by only 0.3%.

US proposes fresh tariffs on Australia

ELIZA BAVIN  |  THURSDAY, 4 JUN 2026
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the proposed new tariffs are "unjustified and unwarranted".

Cooling economy could keep RBA on hold

ELIZA BAVIN  |  WEDNESDAY, 3 JUN 2026
Australia's GDP cooled in the March quarter with some saying the read could be positive news for interest rates.

What does a world with 'zero migration' look like?

RIDDHIMA TALWANI  |  WEDNESDAY, 3 JUN 2026
Oxford Economics hypothesised an extreme scenario of "zero migration" globally and found while destination economies would see significant declines in output per capita, origin economies would have modest gains.