Australian Treasurer Frydenberg: Ensure lockdowns and border restrictions do not last longer

“Small business has done it very tough during COVID – impacted by lockdowns and border closures,” said Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg in an OpEd piece on early Friday morning in Asia.

Additional quotes

There are businesses – particularly in the State’s tourism sector – that have struggled.

While Government support is vital in the short-term, survival in the long-term is only possible with the economy and our borders opening up.

This is why the States and Territories must stick to the plan agreed to at National Cabinet, which eases restrictions at 70-80 percent vaccination rates.

It is at these vaccination rates the transmissibility of the virus reduces, fewer people get sick and stringent lockdowns become unlikely.

By sticking to this agreed plan, our economy will not only open up at 70-80 percent vaccination rates, but will bounce back strongly.

We saw this in the most recent employment data, and we saw it in Australia’s growth numbers earlier this year. But if we don’t open up as planned and agreed, there will be fewer people in work and the well-being of Australians will suffer.

As the Doherty Institute illustrates, vaccinations are the answer. It must be our future, as well.

FX implications

AUD/USD ticks up to 0.7250 following these comments but remains pressured after snapping a four-day uptrend the previous day. The reason for the same could be traced to the market’s cautious sentiment ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s Jackson Hole showdown.

Read: AUD/USD bears sinking their teeth in as hawks circle above