Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on Thursday warned that the nation's economy will only rebound from the coronavirus crisis if domestic borders reopen soon.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on Wednesday forecasted that Australia's economy will contract by 5 per cent in 2020 as a result of the pandemic before recovering by 4.1 per cent in 2021, reports Xinhua news agency.
Responding to the findings, Frydenberg said that the recovery would not be possible with closed state borders.
"The positive news for Australia in this report is that Australia stands out as a leader in the economic recovery," he told reporters on Thursday.
"This report does signal the economic challenges that Australia and the world face, but as we have success on the health front, we are starting to ease restrictions, and it's critically important that we maintain that momentum, that we lift those restrictions on the domestic borders. Closed borders cost jobs.
"There is no clear medical reason as to why those domestic borders should be closed."
The borders of South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland, Tasmania and the Northern Territory (NT) remain closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The federal government is pushing for them to be open by July.
As of Thursday afternoon there had been 7,285 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia, an increase of nine cases in 24 hours.
Eight of the new cases were in Victoria including a man in his 30s who attended a Black Lives Matter protest along with thousands of others in Melbourne on June 6, prompting fears about potential transmission of the virus.
"What we have been absolutely clear about is that people shouldn't have gathered in those numbers for those rallies. In doing so, they put the broader community's health at risk," Frydenberg said.
"Obviously, we'll wait and see what the health outcomes are in the weeks ahead."
( With inputs from IANS )