New York, March 11: Prime Minister Julia Gillard says there are positive signs for the United States’ economy, but Australia’s major trading partner is doing it tough.
Ms Gillard on Thursday morning (New York time) had breakfast with business leaders in New York before walking the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
She said later that fears of a US double-dip recession had faded, despite unemployment remaining just below 9 per cent.
“The consistent view I’ve had in my discussions with business leaders and figures of the (Obama) administration … was a sense of some optimism about the progress of the American economy,” she said.
“When I had discussions on earlier occasions a while back many people were speculating about a double-dip recession – all of that speculation has gone now, people are seeing signs of growth and change.”
Ms Gillard, who on her US trip has met with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, said a common refrain in the US was that growth is “on the upside”.
“These are good signs for the future … there’s a long road ahead but there is a sense that things are going in the right direction.”
Ms Gillard will later lunch with News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch, who turns 80 tomorrow.
She said she had received some strong feedback from the US business community, including BHP Billiton chairman Jac Nasser, about the potential for investment in Australia and her carbon pricing scheme to start from July 1 next year.
“Many of the leading business figures are people who have said to me they believe in pricing carbon – the CEO of GE, the CEO of Dow Chemicals have not only said to me but have said publicly they believe in pricing carbon and that we have to tackle climate change and pricing carbon is the best way to do it,” she said.
Asked whether details of the carbon tax would be included in the May Budget, Ms Gillard said: “The Budget accounting will be done well and truly in time for the start of the scheme on July 1, 2012.
“The Budget accounting will flow from making those decisions about the price and the use of the money to generously assist households to help Australian industry’s transition and for other climate programs.”
——–Agencies