SYDNEY, Sept.2 (People’s Daily Online) --Australian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell 7.0 per cent in the June quarter, the largest quarterly fall on record, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Wednesday.

ABS numbers also confirmed a fall of 0.3 per cent in the March quarter 2020, which means Australia is officially in its first recession for almost three decades, according to a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Head of National Accounts at the ABS, Michael Smedes, said: “The global pandemic and associated containment policies led to a 7.0 per cent fall in GDP for the June quarter. This is, by a wide margin, the largest fall in quarterly GDP since records began in 1959.”

The data shows that private demand detracted 7.9 percentage points from GDP, while net trade contributed 1.0 percentage points and public demand contributed 0.6 percentage points to GDP respectively.

General government net saving fell to -82.6 billion Australian dollars from 1.2 billion Australian dollars in the March quarter 2020. The fall in the June quarter reflected the Australian federal government economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in record high subsidy payments of 55.5 billion Australian dollars and reduced tax revenue.

Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said on Wednesday the June national accounts were full of "heartbreaking stories… We’ve done everything possible to cushion the blow for the Australian community from COVID-19," he added.