Australian businessman Mark Bouris has warned the country could face a new inflation crisis driven by rising oil prices, urging the government to cut spending and the Reserve Bank to consider raising interest rates.
Bouris told The Advertiser the federal government should show “fiscal constraint” in the May budget, arguing that current spending levels are fuelling inflation.
“The government is spending way too much on the economy,” he said. “We need strong fiscal constraint.”
He also criticised the Reserve Bank’s focus on keeping unemployment low, saying rising inflation shows the strategy has “not worked.”
“This experiment the Reserve Bank has been running with trying to keep unemployment low, that experiment hasn’t worked,” Bouris said.
He warned inflation could worsen if oil prices remain elevated, with NAB economists predicting Australia’s inflation rate could reach 4.75 per cent.
“That’s out of control,” Bouris said.
He also said immigration should be better aligned with Australia’s capacity to manage population growth.
“I’m not anti-immigration. I’m the product of immigration. It’s a cultural wonderment. But I definitely want to control it relative to what we can handle,” he said.
Source: The Advertiser
