Australian budget forecasts heavy hit to economy due to floods and disasters

Estimates growth will lose about quarter of a percentage point during the current quarter, or about $5bn in economic activity, because of flooding

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The increasing frequency of weather disasters will take its toll on the economy in the near term and force the government to fork out hundreds of millions of dollars to build resilience for more to come.

As Australia endures its third La Nina event in as many years, the budget estimates growth will lose about quarter of a percentage point during the current quarter, or about $5bn in economic activity, because of the flooding across the country's south-east.