The Australian economy has its challenges, but we're better off than most other countries, Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens says.
Almost six years after the global financial crisis (GFC) struck, Australia is in an enviable economic position, Mr Stevens told a federal parliamentary committee on the economy and its prospects.
That's despite the federal government's revelation on Tuesday that the 2013/14 federal budget deficit had blown out by $17 billion since the election, he said.
While the economy was currently experiencing below-trend growth, it was still "12 or 13 per cent bigger than it was" before the GFC, Mr Stevens said on Wednesday.
The banking system is stronger now than it was in 2008 and while unemployment is higher, it remains low by historical standards and when compared with many other countries, he said.
"I think we have a record of macro-economic success in that period that, in all immodesty I suppose, many other countries wish they had," Mr Stevens said.
"It's certainly true we have a buildup of government debt and that's a medium-term challenge for us to address but... it isn't actually about a surplus or a deficit in any particular year.
"Even with the debt numbers that have been put out yesterday and the projections, there are a lot of countries who would rather have that set of numbers than the ones they have.
"I think we have problems, we have big challenges, but I'd rather have most of our challenges than the ones I see around the table with governors I sit with a number of times a year."
