The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has just released balance of payments data for the March quarter of 2013, which registered a big seasonally adjusted fall in the current account deficit (CAD) to $8,510 million, from $14,759 million in the December quarter.
The fall in the CAD was driven primarily by a large $5,578 million improvement in the trade balance, which turned around from a $-5,211 million deficit in the December quarter to a surplus of $367 million in the March quarter.
The primary income deficit also improved, falling by $681 million over the quarter to $8,548 million.
Other things equal, the improvement in net exports figure will contribute 1% to the March quarter’s headline GDP result. Median private forecasts will hover now around 0.6-0.7% for the quarter.
