“Australia’s current-account deficit unexpectedly narrowed in the three months through December on increased iron ore exports.
The shortfall on goods, services and investment was A$14.68 billion ($15 billion) from a revised A$15.05 billion in the third quarter, the Bureau of Statistics said in Sydney today. The medianestimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 21 economists was for a A$15.3 billion gap. Net exports added 0.6 percentage point to gross domestic product growth in the fourth quarter, the bureau said today. Economists forecast a 0.5 point addition.
Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens reduced the benchmark interest rate by 1.75 percentage points from November 2011 to December 2012 to stimulate industries outside of resources as commodity prices ease. A high currency has hurt earnings for manufacturers and retailers, helping create what the RBA has referred to as a multispeed economy with those industries lagging behind mining….”
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