Economists expect quarterly growth in output of about 0.4 per cent on average, giving year-on-year growth of 2.2 per cent. However, the spectrum of forecasts is wide, ranging from no growth to more than 0.6 per cent. The economy expanded 0.2% from the previous quarter and was up 2% compared with the same period past year. The Monday’s results stopped short of expectations of a 0.2 per cent rise which might have a possible impact on the GDP for the June quarter. The Australian dollar fell to a six-and-a-half year low of $0.6986 against the US dollar, down 0.4% for the day. And the Australian share market looks set to open higher following a muted session on Wall Street after Moody’s slashed its 2016 growth forecast for the Group of 20 economies due to the hit from a slowing Chinese economy. Treasurer Joe Hockey says the latest figures show that the Australian economy is resilient because other resource-reliant economies including Canada and Brazil are now in recession. “Growth is slowing, but not sharply and not unexpectedly�, she said in a speech at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta. CommSec economist Savanth Sebastian said it is quite a feat that the Australian economy is still managing to grow, despite falling commodity prices and a sluggish manufacturing sector. The local currency slumped more than 1 per cent to a low of US70.17¢ just before 7am AEST, its lowest level since April 2009. Inventories feed into the expenditure measure of GDP growth, which also takes in consumer and government spending and exports. Australia has struggled to transition away from mining-driven growth as an unprecedented boom in resources investment ends, with non-mining industries failing to fill the gap. “Mining production fell significantly this quarter (-3.0%), although it is still positive through the year with growth at 2.1%�, the ABS said. The kiwi slid 0.1 per cent to 63.29 cents. “We think you’d need an exogenous shock to get us into some kind of contraction, be that from China or elsewhere�. “There are parts of the economy that are going OK�, he added, pointing to residential construction, household consumption and net exports.

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