Kevin Rudd has raised the possibility of slashing Australia's record high intake of migrants should the global financial crisis plunge the economy into a sustained downturn.

The Prime Minister said Australia's overall migrant intake, which is set annually in the lead-up to the May budget, would be determined according to the financial conditions that prevailed at the time.

"It's been this way since time immemorial and will be this way into the future as well," Mr Rudd said yesterday, when asked if it was time to think about cutting the migration rate.

"We adjust it according to economic circumstances."

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24473717-5013871,00.html