A chief economist says raising the Newstart Allowance is urgent and should be increased by $7 a day.

As it stands, single Newstart recipients receive $275 a week or around $40 a day.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has ruled out increasing the payments, but Labor will raise the issue at their upcoming national conference.

So should the Newstart Allowance be increased?

A self-described “grumpy economist” thinks so.

Chief Economist at Deloitte Access Economics Chris Richardson tells Michael McLaren the issue should be a priority.

“I’m a grumpy, old economist. I want to repair the budget.

“But I would rate the urgency of raising unemployment benefits pretty high.”

He says the Newstart payments should be increased by $50 a week, or $7 a day.

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