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Australia Posts Its First Current Account Surplus in 44 Years

The result is mainly a function of the extraordinary and unexpected spike in iron-ore prices.

Australia Posts Its First Current Account Surplus in 44 Years
Tourists pose for photographs in front of the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia. (Photographer: David Gray/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) --

Australia recorded its first current-account surplus since 1975 in the three months through June, underpinned by a surge in iron ore prices that have since retraced much of their gain.

The windfall was A$5.9 billion ($4 billion) in the second quarter, compared with a revised A$1.1 billion shortfall three months earlier, the statistics bureau said in Sydney Tuesday. Economists had forecast a A$1.5 billion surplus.

The result is mainly a function of the extraordinary and unexpected spike in iron-ore prices, fueled by huge supply disruptions and record Chinese steel production. Though both of these have since unwound, with iron ore falling the most on record in August, suggesting the surplus may be short-lived.

Australia Posts Its First Current Account Surplus in 44 Years

Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Guy Debelle last week noted the “significant transformation” from 33 years ago when then-Treasurer Paul Keating warned that Australia’s record current account deficit -- at almost 6% of GDP -- risked seeing the nation becoming a “banana republic.”

Yet for the RBA, which kept its cash rate unchanged at a record-low 1% Tuesday, and is forecast to reduce it to 0.5% next year, a current-account surplus may not be what it needs. A surplus suggests the currency might be a bit stronger than it otherwise would be and investment somewhat softer.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Heath in Sydney at mheath1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nasreen Seria at nseria@bloomberg.net, Chris Bourke, Victoria Batchelor

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