Economic cost of bushfires estimated at $2 billion and rising.

The cost to the Australian economy of this summer’s devastating bushfire season has already likely topped $2 billion – and is still climbing.

The sky turns blood red in Mallacoota last Saturday.

Economists are tipping the Reserve Bank will deliver another interest rate cut next month, amid fears the fires will prompt already cautious consumers to spend even less.

But the Morrison government’s budget surplus looks safe, for now, they say.

The head of economic analysis at SGS Economics and Planning, Terry Rawnsley, estimates the direct costs to fire-affected regions from lost tourism, agricultural and retail income already lies between $1.1 billion to $1.9 billion this financial year.

Read the story from The Age by Jessica Irvine - “Economic cost of bushfires estimated at $2 billion and rising.”