QUARTERLY GFS MEASURES - KEY FIGURES

In the September quarter 2017:

• Taxation revenue decreased by 12.8% from $134,619m in the June quarter 2017 to $117,381m in the September quarter 2017.
• General government sector expenses exceeded revenue resulting in a GFS net operating balance of –$13,693m.
• The GFS net lending(+)/borrowing(-) position for the general government sector was –$18,510m.

			Jun Qtr 2017	Sep Qtr 2017	Jun Qtr 2017 to Sep Qtr 2017
			$m	$m	% change
Current Prices
Taxation revenue
	General government		134 619	117 381	–12.8
Total revenue
	General government		167 116	147 632	–11.7
	Public non-financial corporations		20 092	19 821	–1.3
Total expenses
	General government		159 150	161 325	1.4
	Public non-financial corporations		21 980	20 879	–5.0
GFS Net operating balance
	General government		7 966	–13 693	. .
	Public non-financial corporations		–1 888	–1 058	. .
GFS Net lending(+)/borrowing(-)
	General government		–5 486	–18 510	. .
	Public non-financial corporations		–5 596	–3 646	. .

. . not applicable

			at 30 September 2017
			$m
Current Prices
Commonwealth Government
	Total assets		510 321
	Total liabilities		922 455
	GFS Net worth		–412 134
Total State Government
	Total assets		1 157 718
	Total liabilities		352 369
	GFS Net worth		805 349

QUARTERLY NATIONAL ACCOUNTS PUBLIC SECTOR MEASURES - KEY FIGURES

The table below includes the key public sector aggregates for the September 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 September quarter 2017:

• Total general government final consumption expenditure increased by $149m, a rise of 0.2% compared with the June quarter 2017, which is not expected to contribute to growth in the September quarter 2017 volume measure of GDP.
• Total general government gross fixed capital formation decreased by $1,584m, a fall of 8.9% compared with the June quarter 2017.
• Total public corporations gross fixed capital formation decreased by $218m, a fall of 3.6% compared with the June quarter 2017.
• Total public gross fixed capital formation is lower than in the June quarter 2017 and is expected to detract 0.4 percentage points from growth in the September quarter 2017 volume measure of GDP. The June quarter estimate was higher than normal due to the acquisition of second-hand assets from the private sector, particularly the Royal Adelaide Hospital, which explains the detraction this quarter.

			Dec Qtr 2016	Mar Qtr 2017	Jun Qtr 2017	Sep Qtr 2017	Jun Qtr 2017 to Sep Qtr 2017
			$m	$m	$m	$m	% change
Current Prices
General government final consumption expenditure (a)
	National - defence		7 440	7 528	7 260	7 564	4.2
	National - non-defence		25 140	25 160	26 047	25 558	–1.9
	Total national		32 580	32 688	33 307	33 122	–0.6
	State and local		47 422	48 528	49 361	49 608	0.5
	Total general government final consumption expenditure		80 001	81 216	82 668	82 730	0.1
Public gross fixed capital formation
	General government
		National - defence	2 061	2 087	2 122	2 177	2.6
		National - non-defence	2 572	2 620	2 224	2 597	16.8
		Total national	4 633	4 707	4 346	4 774	9.9
		State and local	9 617	10 432	13 403	11 344	–15.4
		Total general government	14 250	15 139	17 749	16 118	–9.2
	Public corporations
		Commonwealth	2 474	2 203	2 311	2 123	–8.1
		State and local	5 421	4 386	3 771	3 737	–0.9
		Total public corporations	7 895	6 589	6 083	5 860	–3.7
	Total public gross fixed capital formation		22 145	21 728	23 832	21 978	–7.8
Memorandum item
	Net purchases of second-hand assets by public sector		1 880	1 694	3 209	323	np
Chain Volume (b)
General government final consumption expenditure (a)
	National - defence		7 351	7 426	7 152	7 390	3.3
	National - non-defence		25 043	25 408	26 189	25 909	–1.1
	Total national		32 393	32 834	33 341	33 299	–0.1
	State and local		46 822	47 741	48 194	48 386	0.4
	Total general government final consumption expenditure		79 215	80 575	81 535	81 684	0.2
Public gross fixed capital formation
	General government
		National - defence	2 155	2 187	2 232	2 343	5.0
		National - non-defence	2 595	2 636	2 231	2 603	16.7
		Total national	4 750	4 822	4 462	4 947	10.8
		State and local	9 723	10 539	13 402	11 334	–15.4
		Total general government	14 473	15 362	17 865	16 281	–8.9
	Public corporations
		Commonwealth	2 508	2 214	2 306	2 122	–8.0
		State and local	5 421	4 400	3 782	3 748	–0.9
		Total public corporations	7 929	6 614	6 088	5 870	–3.6
	Total public gross fixed capital formation		22 402	21 976	23 953	22 151	–7.5
Memorandum item
	Net purchases of second-hand assets by public sector		1 840	1 681	3 158	316	np

np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
(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.


SEPTEMBER 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 will be 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 16	Dec 16	Mar 17	Jun 17	Sep 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 this 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
December 2017	6 March 2018	7 March 2018
March 2018	5 June 2018	6 June 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.