AEIR 2018

The Australian economy expanded by 3.5% saar in Q2 of 2018, slowing from 4.7% in Q1. Consumption was the top contributor to growth, adding 2.3 percentage points, and net exports added 0.5 points, while fixed capital formation made no contribution and changes in inventory subtracted 0.1 points. Seasonally adjusted retail sales were stagnant in July 2018, but average monthly growth in the first 7 months of 2018 was 0.3%, up from 0.2% in the same period of 2017.

Portents of further economic growth are found in continued expansion in manufacturing, measures of business confidence that show optimism regarding future economic conditions, and a strong labor market. FocusEconomics panelists forecast GDP expanding by 2.9% in 2018 and 2.8% in 2019 on the expectation that exports will grow in a positive global environment and that business investment outside of mining will find support from accommodative monetary policy and encouraging business conditions.
Source: Asian Development Outlook 2018 Update, ADB.
Latest Month-Ago Year-Ago
Composite Stock Price Index 1 3.0 (Feb19)3.0 3.0
Broad Money Growth 2 1.9 (Nov18)1.9 2.1
Headline Inflation Rate 3 1.8 (Dec18)1.9 0.0
Industrial/ Manufacturing Production Growth Rate 3 3.5 (Jun18)1.3 0.0
Merchandise Export Growth 3 10.7 (Dec18)10.7 17.1
1 Monthly average, local index.
2 %.
3 y-o-y, %.
Source: Bloomberg LP; CEIC database.

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