Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says Australia is well placed to respond to COVID-19 threats as Sydney fights to contain a northern beaches outbreak.

The national economy has rebounded faster than predicted: A deficit of $214 billion was predicted for this financial year, but the mid-year economic and fiscal outlook forecasts the deficit to fall to $198 billion.

The Treasurer maintains economic support in the form of Jobkeeper and Jobseeker was necessary.

The unemployment rate sits at 6.8 per cent but the government was warned it would hit 15 per cent without fiscal support.

“We had no option other than to spend through this crisis.

“The measures that we have put in place have helped stop some of the damage and to cushion the blow for millions of Australians.

“The road ahead will be hard, it will be long, there’s a lot of uncertainty as we’ve seen play out on the northern beaches.”

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