QUARTERLY GFS MEASURES - KEY FIGURES

In the March quarter 2018:

• Taxation revenue decreased by 1.6% from $133,258m in December quarter 2017 to $131,141m in March quarter 2018, but increased 7.8% when compared year-on-year to March quarter 2017.
• General government sector revenue exceeded expenses resulting in a GFS net operating balance of $1,961m.
• The GFS net lending(+)/borrowing(-) position for the general government sector was –$2,934m.

			Dec Qtr 2017	Mar Qtr 2018	Dec Qtr 2017 to Mar Qtr 2018
			$m	$m	% change
Current Prices
Taxation revenue
	General government		133 258	131 141	–1.6
Total revenue
	General government		162 828	160 902	–1.2
	Public non-financial corporations		20 196	20 272	0.4
Total expenses
	General government		160 935	158 941	–1.2
	Public non-financial corporations		21 939	20 975	–4.4
GFS Net operating balance
	General government		1 893	1 961	. .
	Public non-financial corporations		–1 743	–704	. .
GFS Net lending(+)/borrowing(-)
	General government		–4 573	–2 934	. .
	Public non-financial corporations		–4 324	–2 489	. .

. . not applicable

					at 31 December 2017	at 31 March 2018
					$m	$m
Current Prices
Commonwealth Government
	Total assets				522 600	534 132
	Total liabilities				935 948	950 591
	GFS Net worth				–413 348	–416 459
Total State Government
	Total assets				1 163 524	1 190 329
	Total liabilities				330 149	334 568
	GFS Net worth				833 375	855 761

QUARTERLY NATIONAL ACCOUNTS PUBLIC SECTOR MEASURES - KEY FIGURES

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

• Total general government final consumption expenditure increased by $1,293m, a rise of 1.6% compared with the December quarter 2017, which is expected to add 0.3 percentage points to growth in the March quarter 2018 volume measure of GDP.
• Total general government gross fixed capital formation decreased by $425m, a drop of 2.6% compared with the December quarter 2017.
• Total public corporations gross fixed capital formation decreased by $19m, a drop of 0.3% compared with the December quarter 2017.
• Total public gross fixed capital formation decreased by $444m, a drop of 2.0% compared with the December quarter 2017, which is expected to detract 0.1 percentage points from growth in the March quarter 2018 volume measure of GDP.

			Jun Qtr 2017	Sep Qtr 2017	Dec Qtr 2017	Mar Qtr 2018	Dec Qtr 2017 to Mar Qtr 2018
			$m	$m	$m	$m	% change
Current Prices
General government final consumption expenditure (a)
	National - defence		7 256	7 679	7 707	7 689	–0.2
	National - non-defence		26 012	25 711	26 719	27 162	1.7
	Total national		33 268	33 391	34 427	34 851	1.2
	State and local		49 541	49 469	50 473	51 355	1.7
	Total general government final consumption expenditure		82 809	82 860	84 900	86 206	1.5
Public gross fixed capital formation
	General government
		National - defence	2 123	2 145	1 974	1 894	–4.0
		National - non-defence	2 239	2 622	2 683	2 577	–4.0
		Total national	4 362	4 767	4 657	4 471	–4.0
		State and local	13 409	11 413	11 796	11 620	–1.5
		Total general government	17 771	16 180	16 452	16 091	–2.2
	Public corporations
		Commonwealth	2 309	2 117	2 376	2 245	–5.5
		State and local	3 684	3 856	3 793	3 904	2.9
		Total public corporations	5 993	5 973	6 168	6 149	–0.3
	Total public gross fixed capital formation		23 763	22 153	22 621	22 240	–1.7
Memorandum item
	Net purchases of second-hand assets by public sector		3 089	350	1 120	419	np
Chain Volume (b)
General government final consumption expenditure (a)
	National - defence		7 149	7 504	7 495	7 447	–0.6
	National - non-defence		25 939	25 903	26 862	27 501	2.4
	Total national		33 088	33 407	34 357	34 948	1.7
	State and local		48 636	48 100	48 965	49 666	1.4
	Total general government final consumption expenditure		81 724	81 506	83 322	84 615	1.6
Public gross fixed capital formation
	General government
		National - defence	2 236	2 311	2 123	2 042	–3.8
		National - non-defence	2 245	2 631	2 682	2 590	–3.4
		Total national	4 481	4 942	4 805	4 633	–3.6
		State and local	13 411	11 409	11 737	11 484	–2.2
		Total general government	17 892	16 351	16 542	16 117	–2.6
	Public corporations
		Commonwealth	2 304	2 117	2 368	2 238	–5.5
		State and local	3 698	3 860	3 789	3 901	2.9
		Total public corporations	6 001	5 977	6 157	6 138	–0.3
	Total public gross fixed capital formation		23 893	22 328	22 699	22 255	–2.0
Memorandum item
	Net purchases of second-hand assets by public sector		3 042	342	1 115	410	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.


MARCH 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
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 September quarter 2018 when the GFS and National Accounts treatment will be aligned.


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 2018	4 September 2018	5 September 2018
September 2018	4 December 2018	5 December 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.