ABS confirms trade surplus but says new figures offer clues of lingering inflation pressures on economy
New figures published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Wednesday showed that the country's trade surplus registered at $3.539 billion in June, pointing to a gain of $1.714 million when compared to a previous corresponding period.
The ABS said that the fresh results also exceeded the previously recorded surplus high in October 2008 by $1.107 billion and rolled over an impressive 16 percent growth as compared to the gross domestic product (GDP) for the June quarter.
Also, the ABS noted that the June results beat out the June 1997 numbers by a hairline though the agency clarified that the minerals boom seen in the 1970s still offered a more consistent basis of growth as the trade surplus results then peaked over the 30 percent mark of GDP.
As usual, commodity exports cooked up the new surplus jump as exports of goods and services contributed $6.5 billion higher results as compared to gains posted last year while imports on the same period rose by $2.6 billion.
The bureau said that the resurrected boom in commodity markets pushed up exported resources products as metal ores and mineral garnered results that were higher by $3.6 billion from figures seen last year while coal collected gains of $1.3 billion as compared to last year's results.
While the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) said on Tuesday that commodity prices gained in foreign currency terms for the past consecutive 12 months, it also noted that attending trade and housing price figures pointed to the presence of inflationary pressures that could eventually hurt the economy.
Analysts said that encouraging numbers from both the ABS and RBA offered significant boost to actual national income but they warned that policy-makers should not overlook the lingering effects of inflation.
Experts noted too that housing prices continued spiralling upwards as the price index for established houses in capital cities soared by 3.1 percent in the June quarter and by 18.4 percent on the first half of 2010, as they underscored that the rates maintained the pace in spite of rising cash rates and winding down stimulus packages from the federal government.