An Australian economic make-over. After several interest rate cuts over the past year, the economy is picking up speed.
Retail sales are on the rise, and property markets in key cities are sizzling.
The explosive pace may prompt the central bank to postpone further rate cuts, forcing the low dollar upwards. To reduce public-sector debt, Canberra has slashed state spending and speeded up its privatization program. State telecoms carrier Telstra will go on the block later this year. But markets for Australia's main exports, minerals and agricultural products, are likely to remain depressed. With the Hong Kong bourse biased toward property stocks, Tung's measures could determine whether 1997 will end on a bull run or a bear yawn.