Australia grows at fastest rate since 2008 crisis

CANBERRA: Australia's economy grew a faster-than-expected 4.3 per cent for the year through March thanks largely to Chinese demand for iron ore and other commodities.

Growth of 1.3 percent in the January-March quarter announced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday is around double what economists had expected. It contributed to Australia's fastest annual growth rate since the global economic crisis.

A major driver was a 19.7 percent surge in engineering construction, mainly in mining.

Planned investment in the resources sector reached 500 billion Australian dollars ($500 billion).