Australia’s National Accounts $5 Billion in the Red

Australia’s current account balance unexpectedly swung into deficit in the March quarter as imports surged and commodity export prices fell. The rapid turnaround will reduce the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed the current account in deficit by $4.9 billion ($3.27 billion) in the first quarter of he calendar year, well under forecasts of a $5.1 billion surplus. The previous quarter’s surplus was also revised down sharply to $2.7 billion. The ABS said net exports would subtract 0.9 percentage points from GDP in the period, when analysts were predicting 0.6 percentage points. A current account deficit shows that a country imports more goods, services, and income from abroad than it exports overseas. A trade deficit—when a country spends more money on imports than it makes on exports—is normally the largest component of an account deficit....