AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW, SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, AAP (Australia)
SYDNEY – It’s not called the “Lucky Country” for nothing. Australia’s resource-rich economy continued to expand last quarter, extending the country’s run of 21 years of uninterrupted growth.
Fourth-quarter GDP grew by 0.6% from the previous quarter, and 3.1% from a year earlier according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Growth was boosted by a 3.3% jump in exports of goods and services, says the Australian Financial Review, and notably rises in coal and iron ore exports.
The mining boom continues to power the economy, says the Australian Financial Review. Exports and engineering construction – both assisted by the resources boom contributed to the GDP increase in the last quarter. At least one non-mining sector also contributed to Australia’s growth: the construction industry.
Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan said the numbers reflected Australia’s resilience, with its growth “far outstripping every major advanced economy and the vast bulk of the developed world,” reports the Sydney Morning Herald.
Director of Deloitte Access Economics, Chris Richardson said July marks 21 years since Australia’s last recession. “As far as the statistics can tell us, that is a record for any nation at any time,” he told a conference on Wednesday, according to the AAP.
“Australia is expected to be in the next decade exactly where we were in the last decade – the fastest-growing rich nation in the world,” he said.
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Sydney Harbour. Photo edwin.11
