CANBERRA: Australia’s trade deficit shrank in July, but the previous month’s result was revised to show a much wider deficit than previously estimated.
The trade deficit came in at A$2.46bn in July, narrower than the $3.05bn deficit in June, which had been revised from the initial estimate of a A$2.93bn deficit. It was also narrower than the A$3.16bn deficit economists had expected. The data came as retail sales unexpectedly contracted in July. Exports increased to A$26.9bn in July from $26.29bn the previous month, while imports were relatively steady at $29.36bn from A$29.34bn in July.
Export sales revenue were a mixed bag of increases and decreases. The value of iron ore, the country’s top export, was $4.097bn in July from A$4.542bn in June, but revenue from gold, natural gas, wheat, copper, nickel, lead and silver saw increases. The Australian dollar was down 5.2 per cent against the US dollar in July, which increases the cost of imports, but boosts the Australian dollar value of export earnings.
