According to the Australian Bureau of Statics (ABS), Australia recorded the largest quarterly goods and services surplus with $19.9 billion in the June quarter this year, contributing to the country’s seasonally adjusted current account surplus of 5.9 billion for the given quarter. This is the first current account surplus Australia has recorded since the June quarter of 1975.
ABS chief economist Bruce Hockman stated, “Six consecutive quarters of goods and services surpluses, broadly commodity driven, have laid the foundation for our first current account surplus in 44 years. The surplus is both a price and volume story. Similar to the March quarter 2019, continued global supply interruptions have maintained high iron ore prices into the June quarter, boosting our export receipts to record levels. Export volumes for the key bulk commodities of liquid natural gas, coal and iron ore were up, while volumes fell across several import categories resulting in an increased June quarter trade surplus."
The increase in exports and decrease in imports are expected to contribute 0.6 percentage points to the country’s GDP growth for the June quarter of 2019.