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Press, 28 July 1986, Page 32

Bottom of list

PA Canberra An economic forecast which has just put Australia at the bottom of an international scale had Australia at the top all through last year, the Federal Treasurer, Mr Keating has said. The New York Conference Board said its leading Indices for Australia and Japan reached minus four per cent for the first time. “They run an index which all through last year had us on the top of it,” Mr Keating said outside Parliament “That’s fair enough. We’ve got a major international trading problem, and people

in this country must understand this problem,” he said. The Conference Board said Australia and Japan have both slumped to their lowest level of growth since the scoreboard was compiled. Both leading indices suggest the two economies are likely to face significant economic problems in coming months when actual performance figures catch up to the forecasts in the Leading Index, the Board said. Mr Keating said the current economic problems are the result of International trade problems, and not wages, Government policy, or Australian business.