DECEMBER KEY FIGURES

			Sep Qtr 2008	Dec Qtr 2008	Sep Qtr 2008 to Dec Qtr 2008
			$m	$m	% change
BALANCE ON CURRENT ACCOUNT
	Trend estimates		-8 921	-6 894	23
	Seasonally adjusted		-9 498	-6 499	32
BALANCE ON GOODS AND SERVICES
	Trend estimates		2 427	3 798	56
	Seasonally adjusted		1 429	4 086	186
NET INCOME
	Trend estimates		-11 249	-10 573	6
	Seasonally adjusted		-10 848	-10 442	4
LEVELS AT END OF PERIOD
	International Investment Position		709 722	713 854	1
		Net foreign equity	51 553	35 593	-31
		Net foreign debt	658 169	678 261	3

Current Account, Main aggregates - Trend estimates at current prices (a)

International Investment

DECEMBER KEY POINTS


BALANCE OF PAYMENTS

• The current account deficit, seasonally adjusted, fell $2,999m (32%) to $6,499m in the December quarter 2008. The surplus on goods and services increased $2,657m to $4,086m. The income deficit decreased $406m (4%) to $10,442m.
• In seasonally adjusted chain volume terms there was a decrease of $4,208m (37%) in the deficit on goods and services. This is expected to add 1.5 percentage points to growth in the December quarter 2008 volume measures of GDP.

INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT POSITION (IIP)

• Australia's net IIP rose $4.1b to a net liability position of $713.9b. Australia's net foreign debt increased by $20.1b to a liability of $678.3b. Australia's net foreign equity decreased by $16.0b to a liability of $35.6b.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE (QUARTER)	Release Date
March 2009	2 June 2009
June 2009	1 September 2009
September 2009	8 December 2009

REVISIONS

Table 36 summarises revisions, in original current price terms, since the last issue of this publication, for the last three years and six quarters. Incorporation of the latest survey and administrative data has resulted in revisions to the current account back to September quarter 2007. In original terms, these revisions have increased the 2007-08 current account deficit by $126m and decreased the deficit for September quarter 2008 by $362m.

Revisions ranging from $1m to $22m per year have been made to Goods credits chain volume measures for all periods due to allocation of a more specific price index.

The financial account and international investment position have been revised back to September quarter 2007, resulting in an increase of $146m in Australia's net IIP liability as at 30 September 2008 to $709,722m.


CHANGES TO IMPORT CONFIDENTIALITY RESTRICTIONS

The confidentiality treatment described in the December 2008 issue of International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia(cat. no. 5368.0) is carried through to this publication.

For Balance of payments series, prior to the September 2008 reference month commodities subject to a 'no commodity details' or 'no value details' restriction are included in the Other merchandise goods series. From September to November 2008, commodities with these restrictions are included in the Civil aircraft series. From December 2008, the Civil aircraft series and commodities subject to a 'no commodity details' or 'no value details' restriction are included in the Capital goods, n.e.s. series. As a result of the change in the composition of the series, trend estimates for the Capital goods, n.e.s. series have been suppressed for December quarter 2008 in the relevant spreadsheets. Care should be taken when interpreting the Capital goods, n.e.s. series in publication tables 5, 8, 10 and 12 and in related electronic spreadsheets.


SEPTEMBER QUARTER 2009 RELEASE

The ABS will introduce revised international standards into the Balance of Payments, National Accounts and related series with the September quarter 2009 releases. To enable series to be compiled and validated according to the new standards, the September quarter 2009 issue of this publication will be released on 8 December 2009, one week later than normal. Further details about the implementation of the new standards will be advised in the next issue.


INQUIRIES

For further information contact Selvi Sekhar on Canberra (02) 6252 5540 for balance of payments estimates, and Charles Kauye on Canberra (02) 6252 5541 for international investment estimates.