The Reserve Bank director Warwick McKibbin has directly contradicted Labor's claim that its rescue packages saved 200,000 jobs, The Australian newspaper reports.
Employment figures out today are expected to have remained unchanged in July as growth in the labour market moderates.
The data to be released from the Australian Bureau of Statistics at 11.30am (AEST) is forecast to show total employment to have increased by 20,000 in July with the unemployment rate steady at 5.1 per cent.
The Labor Party is basing its re-election credentials on their ability to avoid the GFC caused by their comprehensive stimulus package.
However, The Australian says evidence has emerged that delays to stimulus spending risked increased demand in the economy at a time when it was not needed.
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Professor McKibbin told the paper that the role of fiscal policy was relatively small; that doesn't mean it wasn't important, but it could not have been responsible for creating 200,000 jobs," he said.
"The nature of the spending was not such that it could be rolled out quickly. Nor could it be changed if the forecasts were wrong, which they were," he told The Australian.
