QUARTERLY GFS MEASURES - KEY FIGURES

In the December quarter 2017:

• Taxation revenue increased by 13.4% from $117,519m in the September quarter 2017 to $133,271m in the December quarter 2017.
• General government sector revenue exceeded expenses resulting in a GFS net operating balance of $1,986m.
• The GFS net lending(+)/borrowing(-) position for the general government sector was –$4,609m.

			Sep Qtr 2017	Dec Qtr 2017	Sep Qtr 2017 to Dec Qtr 2017
			$m	$m	% change
Current Prices
Taxation revenue
	General government		117 519	133 271	13.4
Total revenue
	General government		147 647	162 692	10.2
	Public non-financial corporations		19 778	20 021	1.2
Total expenses
	General government		161 238	160 706	–0.3
	Public non-financial corporations		20 889	21 898	4.8
GFS Net operating balance
	General government		–13 591	1 986	. .
	Public non-financial corporations		–1 111	–1 877	. .
GFS Net lending(+)/borrowing(-)
	General government		–17 959	–4 609	. .
	Public non-financial corporations		–3 568	–4 537	. .

. . not applicable

					at 30 September 2017	at 31 December 2017
					$m	$m
Current Prices
Commonwealth Government
	Total assets				510 450	522 759
	Total liabilities				922 027	936 200
	GFS Net worth				–411 577	–413 441
Total State Government
	Total assets				1 151 651	1 159 560
	Total liabilities				334 862	331 768
	GFS Net worth				816 789	827 792

QUARTERLY NATIONAL ACCOUNTS PUBLIC SECTOR MEASURES - KEY FIGURES

The table below includes the key public sector aggregates for the December quarter 2017 which will be included in the Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product (cat. no. 5206.0). The key figures shown include Government Final Consumption Expenditure for general government and Gross Fixed Capital Formation for general government and public corporations, seasonally adjusted in current prices and chain volume terms. The contribution to GDP of the key public sector aggregates are also included.

In seasonally adjusted chain volume terms in the December quarter 2017:

• Total general government final consumption expenditure increased by $1,366m, a rise of 1.7% compared with the September quarter 2017, which is expected to add 0.3 percentage points to growth in the December quarter 2017 volume measure of GDP.
• Total general government gross fixed capital formation increased by $338m, a rise of 2.1% compared with the September quarter 2017.
• Total public corporations gross fixed capital formation increased by $314m, a rise of 5.3% compared with the September quarter 2017.
• Total public gross fixed capital formation increased by $653m, a rise of 2.9% compared with the September quarter 2017, which is expected to add 0.2 percentage points to growth in the December quarter 2017 volume measure of GDP. Net purchases of second-hand assets by the public sector were $1,188m in the December quarter 2017 which will reduce private gross fixed capital formation.

			Mar Qtr 2017	Jun Qtr 2017	Sep Qtr 2017	Dec Qtr 2017	Sep Qtr 2017 to Dec Qtr 2017
			$m	$m	$m	$m	% change
Current Prices
General government final consumption expenditure (a)
	National - defence		7 528	7 283	7 546	7 774	3.0
	National - non-defence		25 106	26 077	25 800	26 708	3.5
	Total national		32 634	33 360	33 346	34 482	3.4
	State and local		48 587	49 604	49 630	50 323	1.4
	Total general government final consumption expenditure		81 221	82 964	82 976	84 805	2.2
Public gross fixed capital formation
	General government
		National - defence	2 089	2 114	2 154	1 988	–7.7
		National - non-defence	2 638	2 238	2 613	2 642	1.1
		Total national	4 727	4 353	4 767	4 630	–2.9
		State and local	10 430	13 403	11 377	11 931	4.9
		Total general government	15 157	17 756	16 144	16 561	2.6
	Public corporations
		Commonwealth	2 206	2 308	2 114	2 364	11.9
		State and local	4 351	3 685	3 777	3 862	2.3
		Total public corporations	6 556	5 993	5 890	6 227	5.7
	Total public gross fixed capital formation		21 713	23 749	22 035	22 788	3.4
Memorandum item
	Net purchases of second-hand assets by public sector		1 704	3 138	336	1 196	np
Chain Volume (b)
General government final consumption expenditure (a)
	National - defence		7 426	7 152	7 390	7 559	2.3
	National - non-defence		25 383	26 162	25 881	26 731	3.3
	Total national		32 809	33 314	33 271	34 289	3.1
	State and local		47 869	48 335	48 527	48 874	0.7
	Total general government final consumption expenditure		80 678	81 648	81 798	83 164	1.7
Public gross fixed capital formation
	General government
		National - defence	2 189	2 224	2 318	2 137	–7.8
		National - non-defence	2 652	2 245	2 618	2 638	0.8
		Total national	4 840	4 468	4 936	4 776	–3.3
		State and local	10 538	13 402	11 366	11 865	4.4
		Total general government	15 378	17 870	16 303	16 641	2.1
	Public corporations
		Commonwealth	2 218	2 303	2 113	2 356	11.5
		State and local	4 364	3 698	3 784	3 856	1.9
		Total public corporations	6 582	6 001	5 898	6 212	5.3
	Total public gross fixed capital formation		21 960	23 871	22 200	22 853	2.9
Memorandum item
	Net purchases of second-hand assets by public sector		1 691	3 091	328	1 188	np

np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
(a) See paragraph 36 of the Explanatory Notes for the relationship between general government final consumption expenditure and GFS aggregates.
(b) Reference year for chain volume measures is 2015-16.


DECEMBER QUARTER 2017 GFS RELEASE

This release presents quarterly government finance statistics on an accrual accounting basis. Tables 1 through 12 are presented in GFS operating statement format for the general government sector, with the exception of Table 2 which presents data for the public non-financial corporations sector. Tables 13 and 14 are presented in GFS balance sheet format for the general government sector.

Detailed quarterly GFS are released for the current financial year only, other than in the September quarter, when the quarters of the previous financial year are presented. Balance sheet data is being added incrementally each quarter through the 2017-18 financial year. Users requiring data for earlier periods should consult the annual publication Government Finance Statistics, Australia (cat. no. 5512.0). The latest issue (2015-16) was released on 27 April 2017.

Table	Sep 17	Dec 17
Table 1 All Levels of Government, Operating Statement - General Government	*	*
Table 2 All Levels of Government, Operating Statement - Public Non-Financial Corporations	*	*
Table 3 Commonwealth Government, Operating Statement	*	*
Table 4 Total State & Local, Operating Statement	*	*
Table 5 New South Wales, Operating Statement	*
Table 6 Victoria, Operating Statement	*
Table 7 Queensland, Operating Statement	*
Table 8 South Australia, Operating Statement	*
Table 9 Western Australia, Operating Statement	*
Table 10 Tasmania, Operating Statement	*
Table 11 Northern Territory, Operating Statement	*
Table 12 Australian Capital Territory, Operating Statement	*
Table 13 Commonwealth Government, Balance Sheet	*	*
Table 14 Total State Government, Balance Sheet	*	*

Government Finance Statistics are part of the broader suite of macroeconomic accounts produced by the ABS. They share their basic concepts with the National Accounts and Balance of Payments. The conceptual framework is agreed internationally and published by the International Monetary Fund. Macroeconomic statistics are compiled to enable macroeconomic analysis and the standards may differ from accounting standards in some regards.


CHANGES TO GOVERNMENT FINANCE STATISTICS

Australia's system for producing GFS has been updated as a result of revised international standards for compiling national accounts (2008 SNA) and the consequent revision of the International Monetary Fund's GFS Manual 2014 (IMF GFSM 2014). An updated ABS GFS Manual was released on 23 December 2015 to reflect the AGFS15 changes and can be found in Australian System of Government Finance Statistics: Concepts, Sources and Methods, 2015 (cat. no. 5514.0). AGFS15 is effective for all GFS data that is reported for all periods from 1 July 2017 onwards, beginning with the September quarter 2017 publication.

A range of conceptual changes under AGFS15 are outlined in the updated ABS GFS Manual. Only a small number of these changes impact on quarterly GFS data due to the narrower scope of published quarterly outputs when compared to annual outputs. Details of the changes that impact quarterly GFS data are covered in a recent Information Paper: Forthcoming Changes to the Quarterly Publication for Government Finance Statistics (cat. no. 5519.0.55.002).

As part of these changes the ABS is currently considering options for the implementation of the creditor approach to interest expenses. Full implementation of the new approach will proceed across all sectors when high quality GFS outputs can be assessed. Experimental estimates for key aggregate sectors are included in the interim as a memorandum item in the publication spreadsheet so that users are aware of the potential impact on GFS outputs. These experimental estimates are sourced from the General Government Income Accounts that are produced as part of the quarterly Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product (cat. no. 5206.0). The Income Accounts present Other interest as an output category within Property income payable, which is broadly comparable to the Other interest expenses output category within GFS Expenses.


NEW QUARTERLY BALANCE SHEET

The IMF encourages transparency and openness of member countries by setting best practice standards for the dissemination of economic and financial data. These data dissemination standards enhance the availability of timely and comprehensive statistics, which then contribute to sound macroeconomic policies and the efficient functioning of financial markets.

To support best practice reporting by Australia against these standards, the ABS is producing quarterly GFS balance sheet outputs through AGFS15 implementation. These outputs are incorporated into the publication spreadsheet and cover the Commonwealth General Government and Total State General Government sectors.


TRANSACTIONS RELATED TO VISA APPLICATION CHARGES

In December 2015, the Commonwealth Government released the 2015-16 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) which included a reclassification of visa application charges (VAC). In MYEFO these charges are now treated as taxation revenue rather than sales of goods and services. This reclassification has been applied to the Government Finance Statistics (GFS), with no impact on total GFS revenue or the GFS net operating balance. The National Accounts statistics will maintain coherence with previously published data and classify this transaction as sales of goods and services. These treatments will remain in place until a review of the treatment of VAC and similar government charges in macroeconomic statistics has been completed.


FORTHCOMING ISSUES

The release of GFS quarterly data is usually coordinated to be the day before the respective issue of Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product (cat. no. 5206.0). The scheduled release dates for the next two issues are:

Issue	5519.0.55.001	5206.0
March 2018	5 June 2018	6 June 2018
June 2018	4 September 2018	5 September 2018

INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070, email <client.services@abs.gov.au> or email <public.finance@abs.gov.au>. The ABS Privacy Policy outlines how the ABS will handle any personal information that you provide to us.