The questions for policymakers

What is the state of the economy, and the implications for policy?

Let’s summarise the state of the economy:
 

1. Given the difficulties of the gross domestic product (GDP) data, it’s useful to look at the firm data to understand the state of the economy. There is a small dataset of 508 non-financial firms where the full-year results of 2023-24 are observed; this shows revenue growth of 4.46 per cent nominal.
 

Turning to the quarterly revenue data for the listed firms, there are three quarters with ample data (September 2023, December 2023, and March 2024) and where revenue growth was -0.9 per cent, 2.1 per cent, and 5.0 per