Australia economy grows 0.4%, recession avoided

MELBOURNE: Australia's economy expanded 0.4% in the three months to March, avoiding a technical recession defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth, official data showed Wednesday.

Most analysts had expected Australia to slide into its first recession since the early 1990s but it remained in positive territory thanks largely to stronger-than-expected export figures released Tuesday, economists said.

Commonwealth Securities economist Savanth Sebastian said the result confirmed Australia's position as one of the world's strongest developed economies.

"If you look at developed nations around the world, they're all negative and quite weak, yet here we are with an actual expansion," he told Sky News.

"It's a great result for the Australian economy."