The Australian economy is doing better than expected and the Central Bank has concluded that it does not need to tamper with benchmark interest rate of 3%, writes Rod McGuirk for Forbes.
One piece of poor economic news came with official data: Australia’s trade deficit has increased to $11.24 billion during the three months through June. The lower world price for Australian iron ore will likely reduce economic growth for the three months by 0.2%. Treasurer Wayne Swan noted a 15.8% fall in export prices during the June quarter.
- iShares MSCI Australia Index (EWA): up 41.7% year-to-date
For more information on Australia, visit our Australia category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.