Sydney - Economic growth is to slow, the government's budget surplus is to shrink and job queues are to lengthen amid the global financial crisis, the Australian government forecast Wednesday.

Over the fiscal year that began in July, the government expected growth in the gross domestic product (GDP) to come in at 2 per cent, down from a previous forecast of 
2.75 per cent. For the next fiscal year, GDP growth should be 2.25 per cent, down from the earlier projection of 3 per cent, it said.

The projected budget surplus is 5.4 billion Australian dollars (3.7 billion US dollars) - a precipitous drop from the 21.7 billion Australian dollars flagged in May.

The unemployment rate was expected to rise to 5 per cent by July from a previous forecast of 4.75 per cent.

In further bad news, Canberra has cut its projection for the winter wheat crop by 11 per cent to 19.9 million tons from an original estimate of 26 million tons. Last year's drought-ravaged wheat crop was 13 million tons. (dpa)