There are warnings the Australian economy could collapse when government support programs are withdrawn in a few months time.

JobKeeper and doubled JobSeeker payments are set to expire in September, coupled with bank loan deferrals which will be lifted at the same time.

A real-time spending tracker shows, come September, people experiencing hardship will further clamp down on discretionary spending, having a huge impact on the economy.

AlphaBeta Director Andrew Charlton was an advisor to the federal government during the Global Financial Crisis and tells Alan Jones the loss of government programs would send the economy “off a cliff”.

“Come September, banks will require the repayment of those deferred mortgages to recommence… bills will be due. All of those things will happen at once and without those supports, the economy could dive again.

“These programs can’t go on forever, but they also can’t all stop at the same time. What we need is a tapered decline.

“If we pull the rug out from under all of that too quickly then, unfortunately, many of those businesses will be lost and many of those jobs will be lost as well.”

Click PLAY below to hear the full interview

Image: Getty