14.1. This chapter examines two broad standard components of the financial account, namely, other investment such as trade credit, deposits and loans (not included in direct investment and reserves), and reserve assets.
14.2. Table 14.1 illustrates the financial transactions and the overall levels of other investment and reserve assets during 1996-97. It is evident from the table that:
- Australia’s other investment liabilities outweigh its assets, with the majority of liabilities consisting of loans and currency and deposits;
- loans also make up a large proportion of other investment assets;
- for financial transactions, on the assets side there were increases in all components (as reflected in the minus sign); on the liabilities side there were large increases in all components apart from a small fall in trade credits; and
- most of Australia’s reserve assets are held as foreign exchange, which consists of deposits and debt securities issued abroad.
 | 14.1 OTHER INVESTMENT AND RESERVE ASSETS: TRANSACTIONS AND LEVELS, 1996-97
| |
| | Financial transactions
| | Position at end of period
| |
| | Assets | Liabilities | | Assets | Liabilities | |
| | $m | $m | | $m | $m | |
|
| |
| Other investment | -3,558 | 7,480 | | -38,656 | 63,363 | |
| Trade credits | -1,867 | -129 | | -7,089 | 4,434 | |
| Loans | -873 | 3,331 | | -25,908 | 34,213 | |
| Currency and deposits | -789 | 3,720 | | -4,788 | 21,850 | |
| Other assets/liabilities
| -29 | 557 | | -871 | 2,866 | |
| Reserve assets | -5,224 | | | -22,790 | | |
| Monetary gold | 0 | | | -1,757 | | |
| Special drawing rights | 2 | | | -37 | | |
| Reserve position in the IMF | -2 | | | -627 | | |
| Foreign exchange | -5,224 | | | -20,369 | | |
|
Source: Tables 26, 32 and 33 from Balance of Payments and International Investment Position, Australia, March quarter 1998 (Cat. no. 5302.0). | |
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