Effectiveness of the Australian Fiscal Stimulus Package: A DSGE Analysis

We develop and estimate a small open economy dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model to investigate the effectiveness of the Australian fiscal stimulus package introduced in the aftermath of the global financial crisis (GFC). The estimated model implies a fiscal multiplier of 0.9 on impact and 1.26 with one-year monetary accommodation. Utilising the estimated shocks - in particular, the fiscal shocks that mimic the stimulus transfers - we conduct several counterfactual policy experiments. Our results suggest that the stimulus transfers were almost equally important as the concurrent monetary easing actions in helping the Australian economy to avoid a recession after the GFC.