Australia’s Treasurer Flags War-Led Inflation Risk Before Budget

Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers warned the global economy faces a “really dangerous moment” as the Middle East conflict threatens to accelerate inflation and drag on activity, complicating the outlook ahead of his delivery of a pivotal budget next month.

“The fallout from the war in the Middle East is already serious and it risks becoming severe,” Chalmers told Bloomberg TV on the sidelines of a Group of 20 meeting in Washington. “Like almost every country here at the G-20 meetings, Australia is expecting to see higher inflation and slower growth as a consequence of what’s happening in the Middle East.”