Australian economy grows by sluggish 0.2 percent in June quarter and 2 percent for year

CANBERRA, Australia – Australia's economy has grown by a slower-than-expected 0.2 percent in the three months through June, dragged down by waning Chinese demand for resources including iron ore and coal.

Economists had forecast 0.4 percent growth in the April-June quarter. Australia's resource-based economy grew by 0.9 percent in the January-March quarter.

But latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data on Wednesday showed the slowest quarterly growth since the first quarter of 2013. Annual growth for the year through March was 2.0 percent, well below the Australian long-term average of 3.2 percent.

Treasurer Joe Hockey says the latest figures show that the Australian economy is resilient because other resource-reliant economies including Canada and Brazil are now in recession.