Tony Burke MP, Acting Minister for Trade
2 April 2009
Australia records the second highest trade surplus on record
Australia recorded a trade surplus of $2.1 billion in February, according to official figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today.
“The February trade surplus is the second highest on record and the seventh consecutive trade surplus,” said the Acting Minister for Trade Tony Burke.
The trade surplus increased by $1.2 billion in February, largely as a result of a $1 billion increase in exports.
“The increase in exports was pleasing given the rapid deterioration in the global economy in recent months,” Mr Burke said. “The increases in rural goods (up 6 per cent) and machinery (up 12 per cent) are particularly encouraging.”
Cereals exports rose 12 per cent and meat exports rose 10 per cent.
Mr Burke said the resources sector showed mixed results, with total resources exports up by less than one per cent in seasonally adjusted terms. Exports of metal ores and minerals rose by 3 per cent, while coal exports were flat. Exports of gold were up $784 million in original terms.
“The reports released by the World Bank and the OECD earlier this week highlight the enormous challenges confronting exporters,” Mr Burke said.
According to the World Bank, the world is experiencing one of the sharpest global economic contractions in modern history. The OECD is forecasting world trade volumes to fall by 13.2 per cent in 2009.
“Trade is a stimulus to economic growth. It is an integral part of the solution to this crisis, so we must do everything we can to keep markets open and give exporters the opportunity to sell their products,” Mr Burke said. “The recent signing of the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement and the entry into force of the Australia-Chile Free Trade Agreement demonstrate the Government’s commitment to keeping markets open.”
Imports fell $134 million (1 per cent) in February, with strong rises in capital goods imports (up 7 per cent) and other goods (largely gold) more than offset by a 13 per cent fall in imports of consumption goods and a 5 per cent fall in imports of intermediate goods.
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