Rudd says Australia recession 'inevitable'

MELBOURNE: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd conceded for the first time Monday that Australia was heading for a recession, saying it was inevitable in the current global downturn.

"The worst global economic recession in 75 years means it's inevitable that Australia will be dragged into recession," Rudd told a jobs forum in Adelaide.

The prime minister has previously couched his language carefully when discussing how the downturn will hit Australia, refusing to use the word recession in the face of repeated questioning.

Instead, he had said it would be "virtually impossible" for Australia's economy to record positive growth amid the global financial crisis.

But he spelled out the challenge facing the economy unequivocally Monday, saying seven of Australia's top 10 trading partners were in recession and the country could not avoid the same fate.

"The severity of the global recession has made it impossible for Australia to avoid a further period of negative economic growth," he said.

Australia's last recession was in the early 1990s but the economy posted its first negative growth figures for eight years in the final quarter of 2008, and is expected to do the same in the first three months of 2009.

That would officially tip Australia into recession, usually defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

Rudd said the government was addressing the issue through economic stimulus packages worth more than 50 billion Australian dollars (31 billion US).

"The challenge for government is to cushion the impact of recession on business and jobs, through the actions we take, through economic stimulus strategy," he said.