QUARTERLY GFS MEASURES - KEY FIGURES

In the June quarter 2018:

• Taxation revenue increased by 11.5% from $131,023m in March quarter 2018 to $146,060m in June quarter 2018, and has increased 8.5% when compared year-on-year to June quarter 2017.
• General government sector revenue exceeded expenses resulting in a GFS net operating balance of $17,525m.
• The GFS net lending(+)/borrowing(-) position for the general government sector was $5,939m.

			Mar Qtr 2018	Jun Qtr 2018	Mar Qtr 2018 to Jun Qtr 2018
			$m	$m	% change
Current Prices
Taxation revenue
	General government		131 023	146 060	11.5
Total revenue
	General government		160 555	183 710	14.4
	Public non-financial corporations		20 344	21 738	6.9
Total expenses
	General government		158 687	166 185	4.7
	Public non-financial corporations		20 923	24 024	14.8
GFS Net operating balance
	General government		1 869	17 525	. .
	Public non-financial corporations		–579	–2 286	. .
GFS Net lending(+)/borrowing(-)
	General government		–2 693	5 939	. .
	Public non-financial corporations		–2 401	–6 021	. .

. . not applicable

					at 31 March 2018	at 30 June 2018
					$m	$m
Current Prices
Commonwealth Government
	Total assets				533 561	563 451
	Total liabilities				950 400	969 501
	GFS Net worth				–416 838	–406 050
Total State Government
	Total assets				1 183 966	1 190 849
	Total liabilities				328 061	339 372
	GFS Net worth				855 905	851 477

QUARTERLY NATIONAL ACCOUNTS PUBLIC SECTOR MEASURES - KEY FIGURES

The table below includes the key public sector aggregates for the June quarter 2018 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 June quarter 2018:

• Total general government final consumption expenditure increased by $859m, a rise of 1.0% compared with the March quarter 2018, which is expected to add 0.2 percentage points to growth in the June quarter 2018 volume measure of GDP.
• Total general government gross fixed capital formation increased by $351m, a rise of 2.2% compared with the March quarter 2018.
• Total public corporations gross fixed capital formation decreased by $357m, a drop of 5.8% compared with the March quarter 2018.
• Total public gross fixed capital formation decreased by $7m, remaining flat when compared with the March quarter 2018, and will not contribute to growth in the June quarter 2018 volume measure of GDP.

			Sep Qtr 2017	Dec Qtr 2017	Mar Qtr 2018	Jun Qtr 2018	Mar Qtr 2018 to Jun Qtr 2018
			$m	$m	$m	$m	% change
Current Prices
General government final consumption expenditure (a)
	National - defence		7 684	7 910	7 681	7 738	0.7
	National - non-defence		25 923	26 542	26 998	27 671	2.5
	Total national		33 607	34 452	34 679	35 408	2.1
	State and local		49 572	50 651	51 771	51 944	0.3
	Total general government final consumption expenditure		83 180	85 103	86 450	87 352	1.0
Public gross fixed capital formation
	General government
		National - defence	2 147	1 987	1 897	2 105	11.0
		National - non-defence	2 631	2 727	2 499	2 390	–4.4
		Total national	4 778	4 714	4 396	4 495	2.3
		State and local	11 441	11 765	11 595	12 066	4.1
		Total general government	16 219	16 478	15 991	16 561	3.6
	Public corporations
		Commonwealth	2 116	2 383	2 230	2 168	–2.8
		State and local	3 790	3 749	3 972	3 765	–5.2
		Total public corporations	5 906	6 132	6 203	5 932	–4.4
	Total public gross fixed capital formation		22 125	22 610	22 193	22 494	1.4
Memorandum item
	Net purchases of second-hand assets by public sector		339	1 110	395	613	np
Chain Volume (b)
General government final consumption expenditure (a)
	National - defence		7 512	7 696	7 447	7 475	0.4
	National - non-defence		26 090	26 668	27 296	27 934	2.3
	Total national		33 602	34 364	34 743	35 409	1.9
	State and local		48 010	48 976	49 966	50 159	0.4
	Total general government final consumption expenditure		81 612	83 340	84 709	85 568	1.0
Public gross fixed capital formation
	General government
		National - defence	2 295	2 105	2 007	2 189	9.1
		National - non-defence	2 643	2 727	2 513	2 381	–5.3
		Total national	4 938	4 832	4 520	4 570	1.1
		State and local	11 383	11 618	11 346	11 648	2.7
		Total general government	16 322	16 449	15 866	16 217	2.2
	Public corporations
		Commonwealth	2 113	2 370	2 217	2 124	–4.2
		State and local	3 787	3 729	3 943	3 679	–6.7
		Total public corporations	5 900	6 099	6 160	5 803	–5.8
	Total public gross fixed capital formation		22 221	22 549	22 027	22 020	0.0
Memorandum item
	Net purchases of second-hand assets by public sector		324	1 100	382	595	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.


JUNE QUARTER 2018 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 (2016-17) was released on 26 April 2018.

Table	Sep 17	Dec 17	Mar 18	Jun 18
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.


PUBLICATION OF CURRENT QUARTER DATA BY JURISDICTION

The GFS quarterly publication has historically published data for individual state and local jurisdictions with a one quarter lag before publishing. The ABS has worked closely with data providers to improve the quality of initial GFS estimates and will begin publishing current quarter data for individual state and local jurisdictions beginning with the September quarter 2018 publication. This initiative will support the timely analysis of GFS data for fiscal and macroeconomic purposes at the jurisdiction level.


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 across 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
September 2018	4 December 2018	5 December 2018
December 2018	5 March 2018	6 March 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.