The treasurer doesn’t expect Australia to be plunged into recession as a result of the deepening oil crisis but is warning of slower economic growth and higher inflation.

“Our current expectation is that the economy will continue to grow, but more slowly than we would have anticipated in January or February,” he told reporters in the US capital.

“I think it’s self-evident when you have an oil shock of this magnitude and this nature, that it will have impacts on inflation and on growth simultaneously.

“We don’t yet know how severe those consequences will be. But we already know that they are serious.”

He reiterated his warning that the world was at a dangerous moment with serious costs and consequences already flowing from the US-Israel-Iran war.

But he said the Government wouldn’t contemplate delaying the budget, due to be handed down in less than four weeks’ time.

The discussions in Washington with G20 finance ministers, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank had helped him to better calibrate the budget for the international conditions, he said.

That gave him more confidence the Government would strike the balance it needed to between dealing with the fallout from the war and fuel shock, and addressing longer-term obligations to set the country on a more sustainable pathway with economic resilience.

“I’m confident we can strike the right balance, but we are hostage to developments in the Middle East in particular, and that’s why this engagement has been so important,” he said.