Australia’s current account is in surplus for a third consecutive quarter but it shrank by $5.5 billion to $955 million in the December quarter.
The result is lower than the market’s anticipated $2.4 billion surplus, which slips from a downwardly revised $6.5 billion in the September quarter.
Tuesday’s seasonally adjusted figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed exports of non rural goods fell by 6.0 per cent as prices for metal ores, minerals, coal and mineral fuels softened.
Export volumes of meat and cereal grains increased.
The balance on goods and services surplus increased by half a billion, widening the surplus to $8.9 billion, with an expected contribution of 0.1 percentage points to growth in the December quarter.
AAP