The Reserve Bank deputy governor was speaking prior to an expected announcement over what will happen to the JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments after September.
And while his speech during the Economic Society of Australia webinar showed the economic impacts of COVID-19 were better than first feared, his assessment was that things will get worse before they recover.
Dr Debelle, who is a regular speaker at FINSIA’s Regulators events, believes the unprecedented payments are vital to the long-term recovery of the economy.
“Recent data indicate that the outcomes in the Australian economy have been better than earlier feared,” he said.
“But we should not lose sight of the fact that the decline in the economy and the impact on households and businesses is historically large.
“Notwithstanding the better than feared outcomes, the fiscal and monetary support that has been provided was, and remains, warranted.
“There is…