Australians’ spending at six-year high

Buoyant outlook: A pedestrian, reflected in a window of the Australian Securities Exchange, looking at a screen showing financial data in Sydney. Australia’s annual economic growth jump to 3.4, half a percentage point higher than economists had predicted. — AFP

SYDNEY: Australian consumers fuelled an economic expansion in the second quarter that beat forecasts to be the fastest in almost six years.

Households ran down their savings to the lowest level in almost 11 years to finance their spending, the statistics bureau said in Sydney.