Australian economy recovers to pre-pandemic levels

SYDNEY: Australia's economy has rebounded to pre-pandemic levels after growing a faster-than-expected 1.8 percent in the first quarter of the year as coronavirus restrictions eased.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported Wednesday that the consumer-led recovery was due to a surge in domestic spending and investment.

Australia's economy shrank in 2020, but recovered strongly late in the year as outbreaks were brought under control and virus curbs lifted.

The end of 2020 and early 2021 saw shops, bars and restaurants in most of the country remove remaining restrictions on the number of consumers they can host and many workers returned to the city centre.

As a result, domestic demand accounted for 1.6 percentage points of the GDP increase in the first quarter of 2021.

The mining-heavy economy was also boosted by strong iron ore prices.

The Reserve Bank of Australia left historically low interest rates on hold on Tuesday and indicated that will continue until 2024.