Australian government provides coronavirus aid package worth nearly 10% of the country’s GDP

“We cannot prevent all the many hardships, many sacrifices that we will face in the months ahead,” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in his speech to the general public on March 22, 2020.

 

“And while these hardships and sacrifices may break our hearts on occasion, we must not let them break our spirit and we must not let them break our resolves as Australians.”

The Australian government announced a second round of emergency economic aid, continuing what the Prime Minister himself calls an “unprecedented” series of steps taken by the federal government. So far, Australia has allocated nearly $190 billion in an effort to relieve the economic stress placed on Australians since the coronavirus outbreak began. That amounts to nearly 10% of the country’s GDP – an impressive figure to say the very least.

The Australian coronavirus economic rescue package includes:

• Support for small businesses
• Boost to welfare recipients
• Funding for people laid off as a result of coronavirus
• $550 biweekly supplement for eligible recipients
• Increased max wage subsidy for small businesses (now $100,000)

Prime Minister Morrison says that this is just the beginning, and that he expects to introduce more economic rescue packages over the coming months. Stay-tuned here for more info about the Australian government’s economic response to the coronavirus.

See the official Australian government website here.