Big improvement in Australia's current account deficit
( 2001-06-04 14:27 ) (7 )

Australia's current account deficit improved by almost one billion dollars (500 million US) in the first three months of 2001, official figures showed Monday.

Allowing for seasonal factors, the current account balance for the March quarter came to 4.716 billion dollars (2.17 billion US), compared with the previous quarter's 5.702 billion, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.

The improvement -- not as strong as predicted, with most economists tipping a 4.5 billion dollar deficit -- was driven by the historically low level of the Australian dollar.

The figure measures Australia's current transactions with the rest of the world.

The ABS said Australia's net foreign debt in the March quarter came to 316.97 billion dollars (165 billion US), up from 292.78 billion in the December quarter and 260.29 billion a year ago.