MARCH KEY FIGURES: ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT


In the March quarter 2017:

• Taxation revenue decreased by 2.0% from $124,403m in the December quarter 2016 to $121,914m in the March quarter 2017.
• General government sector expenses exceeded revenue resulting in a GFS net operating balance of -$716m.
• The GFS net lending(+)/borrowing(-) position for the general government sector was -$5,223m.

			Dec Qtr 2016	Mar Qtr 2017	Dec Qtr 2016 to Mar Qtr 2017
			$m	$m	% change
Current Prices
Taxation revenue
	General government		124 403	121 914	-2.0
Total revenue
	General government		151 956	152 014	-
	Public non-financial corporations		20 537	19 203	-6.5
Total expenses
	General government		153 003	152 730	-0.2
	Public non-financial corporations		21 237	19 816	-6.7
GFS Net operating balance
	General government		-1 048	-716	. .
	Public non-financial corporations		-700	-612	. .
GFS Net lending(+)/borrowing(-)
	General government		-8 072	-5 223	. .
	Public non-financial corporations		-3 409	-3 519	. .

. . not applicable



QUARTERLY NATIONAL ACCOUNTS PUBLIC SECTOR MEASURES - KEY FIGURES

The table below includes the key public sector aggregates for the March 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.

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

• Total general government final consumption expenditure increased by $789m, a rise of 1.0% compared with the December quarter 2016.
• Total general government gross fixed capital formation increased by $942m, a rise of 6.5% compared with the December quarter 2016.
• Total public corporations gross fixed capital formation decreased by $1,523m, a drop of 20.9% compared with the December quarter 2016.

			Jun Qtr 2016	Sep Qtr 2016	Dec Qtr 2016	Mar Qtr 2017	Dec Qtr 2016 to Mar Qtr 2017
			$m	$m	$m	$m	% change
Current Prices
General government final consumption expenditure (a)
	National - defence		6 630	7 098	6 552	6 707	2.4
	National - non-defence		26 693	26 208	26 587	26 674	0.3
	Total national		33 323	33 305	33 140	33 381	0.7
	State and local		47 480	47 193	47 179	48 367	2.5
	Total general government final consumption expenditure		80 803	80 498	80 318	81 748	1.8
Public gross fixed capital formation
	General government
		National - defence	2 728	1 829	2 355	2 301	-2.3
		National - non-defence	2 297	2 292	2 400	2 382	-0.8
		Total national	5 025	4 120	4 756	4 683	-1.5
		State and local	10 463	9 565	9 659	10 687	10.6
		Total general government	15 488	13 686	14 415	15 370	6.6
	Public corporations
		Commonwealth	1 403	1 449	2 159	1 821	-15.7
		State and local	3 858	3 940	5 309	4 132	-22.2
		Total public corporations	5 261	5 389	7 468	5 953	-20.3
	Total public gross fixed capital formation		20 749	19 074	21 883	21 323	-2.6
Memorandum item
	Net purchases of second-hand assets by public sector		1 628	432	2 034	1 738	np
Chain Volume (b)
General government final consumption expenditure (a)
	National - defence		6 361	6 757	6 191	6 270	1.3
	National - non-defence		25 998	25 711	25 880	26 030	0.6
	Total national		32 359	32 468	32 070	32 300	0.7
	State and local		45 762	45 629	45 785	46 344	1.2
	Total general government final consumption expenditure		78 121	78 098	77 855	78 644	1.0
Public gross fixed capital formation
	General government
		National - defence	2 621	1 811	2 328	2 277	-2.2
		National - non-defence	2 320	2 323	2 430	2 416	-0.6
		Total national	4 941	4 134	4 757	4 692	-1.4
		State and local	10 491	9 617	9 669	10 675	10.4
		Total general government	15 432	13 750	14 426	15 368	6.5
	Public corporations
		Commonwealth	1 383	1 438	2 149	1 783	-17.0
		State and local	3 787	3 851	5 143	3 986	-22.5
		Total public corporations	5 171	5 290	7 291	5 768	-20.9
	Total public gross fixed capital formation		20 603	19 040	21 717	21 136	-2.7
Memorandum item
	Net purchases of second-hand assets by public sector		1 631	429	1 929	1 698	np

np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
– nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) See paragraph 37 of the Explanatory Notes for the relationship between general government final consumption expenditure and GFS aggregates.
(b) Reference year for chain volume measures is 2014-15.


MARCH QUARTER 2017 GFS RELEASE

This release presents quarterly government finance statistics on an accrual accounting basis. All tables are presented in GFS operating statement format and are for the general government sector, with the exception of Table 2 which presents data for the public non-financial corporations 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. 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 16	Dec 16	Mar 17
Table 1 All Levels of Government - General Government		*	*	*
Table 2 All Levels of Government - Public Non-Financial Corporations		*	*	*
Table 3 Commonwealth Government		*	*	*
Table 4 Total State & Local		*	*	*
Table 5 New South Wales		*	*
Table 6 Victoria		*	*
Table 7 Queensland		*	*
Table 8 South Australia		*	*
Table 9 Western Australia		*	*
Table 10 Tasmania		*	*
Table 11 Northern Territory		*	*
Table 12 Australian Capital Territory		*	*

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.


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
June 2017	5 September 2017	6 September 2017
September 2017	5 December 2017	6 December 2017

INQUIRIES

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