A dip in retail spending does not mean the recovery has stalled.

On the contrary, it confirms the recovery is proceeding according to plan.

Back in August, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released its quarterly monetary policy statement.

In it, the central bank forecast the economy would grow by a half per cent over 2009.

According to the latest national accounts, gross domestic product (GDP) had already grown by exactly twice that amount by mid-year.

The brighter outlook built on that better performance to date should be evident in the next edition of the quarterly statement to be published by the RBA on Friday.
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Less than half of people receiving the latest federal government stimulus payments intend to spend all or part of the cash, a survey has found.

The Australian Tax Office last week started rolling out the tax bonus of up to $900 to millions of taxpayers earning less than $100,000 as part of the government’s $42 billion stimulus package.

The survey, commissioned by St George and released on Tuesday, found that of the $7.7 billion being handed out just $2.6 billion would be spent.
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