“Alan is responsible for NAB’s global economic and financial forecasts”
Alan joined the Bank in 1992 from the Federal Treasury where he worked for 15 years – his special field being economic forecasting and monetary policy. He graduated (with first class honours) in economics from Newcastle University. He also holds a Masters degree in economics from the Australian National University.
Immediately before joining the Bank, Alan was the Senior Adviser in Treasury responsible for economic forecasting and modelling. In 1987 he was seconded for nearly four years as Counsellor-Economic and Financial with Australia’s delegation to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris.
As Group Chief Economist, Alan is responsible for NAB’s global economic and financial forecasts. He is also a highly respected and much quoted commentator on Australian and global economic trends and policy issues.
Australia’s GDP continues to grow in spite of subdued wages growth and consumer spending. Gaining a greater understanding of how these contradictory trends break down across regional and metropolitan areas, as well as consumer spending categories, is behind NAB’s expansion of its Consumer Spending and Cashless Retail analyses.
The falls in global oil prices over the last year or so are fundamentally a reaction to oversupply in global markets – as US new oil supply comes on board, OPEC puts the squeeze on profitability of new sources of supply by refusing to cut production.
Alan Oster talks to the reasons behind his optimistic economic outlook for Australia in 2016 including the benefits in the investment in the mining sector and consumer confidence.
