Kent Says Currency, Lower Mine Investment to Hurt ‘13 Growth

Australia’s strong currency, a deceleration in resource investment from a peak this year, and tightening of government spending are likely to hurt growth in 2013, central bank Assistant Governor Christopher Kent said.

“The peak in resources investment is now close,” Kent said in a speech to the Bloomberg Economic Summit in Sydney today. “Once it has passed, the decline in mining investment -- and the effect of the still high level of the exchange rate and ongoing fiscal consolidation -- will weigh on economic growth.”