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-Caveat Lector- ----- Original Message -----From: Bruce PorteousSent: Wednesday, June 02, 2004 6:57 PMSubject: [A_Political_Debate_] Deficit trebles on debt bingeAustralia, like the USA, Canada, Britain, and New Zealand are living on borrowed money on borrowed time. Our nations can not continue borrowing money off the rest of the world as they have been to satisfy the extravagant life style of their people. As a result of excessive borrowings, our nations are now at the mercy of our lenders, who when they withdraw their capital, will soon bring on the total collapse of our economies.Bruce P.Deficit trebles on debt bingeBy Tim Colebatch
Economics Editor
CanberraJune 2, 2004 Foreign investors now own $1 trillion of Australian assets, most of it in debts, after Australians borrowed a net $39 billion overseas in the year to March to fuel the housing bubble and rising consumer spending.The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported yesterday that Australia's current account deficit had trebled in just 21/2 years to $48 billion, or 6 per cent of gross domestic product, as the nation borrowed hard to offset the impact of its most prolonged export slump since the 1930s.
Net foreign liabilities blew out to $478 billion to the end of March, $44 billion more than a year earlier. The net foreign debt, which was $193 billion when the Coalition took office after campaigning against foreign debt, is now $374 billion.
The banks and other financial institutions now owe foreign investors a net $300 billion, after a borrowing binge to finance the housing boom. In 1996 they owed just $80 billion, but in the past year alone they borrowed a net $25 billion at low interest rates to lend for home mortgages.
The bureau estimates that foreign investors own $1027 billion of Australian assets - $616 billion of gross debt and $412 billion of equity investments - but Australian investors own just $549 billion of overseas assets.The debt blow-out comes as Australia's annual export revenue has slumped by $17 billion since September 2001, due to a combination of the rising dollar, drought, weak global demand and loss of interest.
In the year to March, the bureau estimates, exports totalled $139 billion, compared with $156 billion in the year to September 2001. Imports rose from $153 billion to $164 billion.
In volume terms, the bureau estimates that exports shrank 2 per cent in that time while imports rose 30 per cent. Even non-rural export volumes rose just 2 per cent in 21/2 years, a dismal performance after average annual growth of 10 per cent from 1983 to 1996.
In the March quarter itself, export volumes increased 2.2 per cent, mostly due to the wheat harvest, but import volumes rose 7 per cent as the higher dollar made imports cheaper and buyers responded accordingly.
Australia ran up a trade deficit of $6.3 billion and a current account deficit of $12 billion, matching the levels of the past year. The trade deficit for the year to March was a record $25 billion, a sharp change from a surplus of $3 billion in the year to September 2001.
The figures came amid growing signs that the economy is slowing. The bureau reported that overall retail sales had recorded no growth in April.
The Australian Industry Group reported a sharp fall in manufacturing activity in May, although a survey by Westpac and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry reported strong growth.
The bureau estimates that the widening gap between import and export volumes will slash 1.3 percentage points from Australia's growth rate when the March-quarter national accounts come out today. Market economists predict they will show growth slumped from 1.4 per cent in the December quarter to 0.6 per cent in March.
Please let us stay on topic and be civil.-Home Page- www.cia-drugs.org
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