Australia's current account deficit soars to $7.55b
National current account deficit rose $2,417m to $7,830m in the September quarter 2010, new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show.
Exports of goods and services decreased $915m (1 per cent) and imports of goods and services were down $118m, according to ABS. Meanwhile, the primary income deficit increased $1,663m (14 per cent).
In seasonally adjusted chain volume terms, there was a turnaround of $1,457m in net goods and services resulting in a deficit of $68m. The bureau said Australia's net exports could detract 0.4 percentage point from the third-quarter gross domestic product report due on Wednesday.
Australia's net International Investment Position (IIP) rose $4.2b to a net liability position of $771.3b in the September quarter 2010.
Net foreign debt liability decreased $8.3b to a liability position of $666.0b. Net foreign equity liability lifted$12.5b to a liability position of $105.3b.
A Reuters poll showed the market expected a deficit of A$6.8 billion, and net exports to detract 0.7 percentage points from third-quarter growth.
With Reuters