What to expect for the rest of 2023
1 August 2023
Recession is likely, but we can handle it, explains Ed Tomlinson.
As we enter the last half of 2023, economists say there’s only a 50% chance Australia will fall into recession, and a slightly higher chance in the US at about 60%.
And even if Australia does fall into recession, with the government handing down a budget surplus for 2022-23 of about $20 billion, we’re in a good place to handle the negative impacts.
This is a surprising outcome, given the pessimism we saw in 2022. And it’s due to the resilience in economies and the optimism in investment markets in 2023.
This led to investment results exceeding expectations for the 2022-23 financial year, driven by strong growth in global sharemarkets, especially US technology stocks. Overall, member returns were better than we expected, given the challenge of high interest rates and increased cost of living pressures.