Australian dollar set to fall to 86 US cents

The Australian dollar will fall to 86 U.S. cents by mid next year from its recent rate of 94 cents, according to BusinessDay economic survey released on Monday which also predicted key economic indicators.
The BusinessDay forecasting panel is made up of 25 of Australia 's leading forecasters in market economics, academia, consultancy and industry associations and its forecasts have proved to very reliable, the Age newspaper reported.
The panel expects unemployment to remain at 6 percent but says there will be slower economic growth and weaker consumer spending as the economy continues to move away from mining investment to new drivers of economic growth.
Australia's terms of trade will slip to 4.9 percent during 2014- 15 according to the panel, better than the budget's 6.75 percent prediction.
China's economy is expected to grow at its present pace, advancing 7.3 percent, as is the United States and the global economy at 2.2 percent and 3.3 percent respectively.
Growth in household spending will be anemic, climbing just 2.6 percent over the year, much less than inflation and population growth combined.
The panel expects real wages to rise 2.9 percent, inflation to climb to 2.6 percent, and average unemployment to hover at 6 percent.
Housing investment is set to jump 7.4 percent but the panel expects business investment to continue to drop to 5.8 percent.
It predicts GDP growth to rise 2.8 percent but nominal GDP growth (the amount of income generated unadjusted for prices) will grow by just 4.1 percent.