Fed: Current account figure no cause for concern: PM

AAP General News (Australia)
12-01-1999
Fed: Current account figure no cause for concern: PM

CANBERRA, Dec 1 AAP - A $10 billion blowout in Australia's foreign debt was no cause
for concern, Prime Minister John Howard said today.

Australia's foreign debt has soared by $10 billion on the back of the worst current
account deficit on record as Australians continued their spending binge.

With the gap between imports and exports widening to $4.6 billion, and the cost of
servicing Australia's liabilities up to $4.7 billion, the current account deficit climbed
$288 million to a record $9.27 billion in the September quarter.

Mr Howard said the figure was manageable given Australia's healthy domestic economy.

"People say we'd like the current account deficit to be a bit smaller," he told Adelaide
radio 5DN.

"But we can handle this, because inflation is low, interest rates are low, the budget
is in surplus, the economy is growing strongly, and it's a broadly-based growth.

"So we take a large current account deficit in our stride and that current account
deficit yesterday is in part a product of a very strong domestic economy."

Yesterday's figure was the fifth consecutive rise and while improvements were expected
from now on, the net foreign debt is showing the impact of Australia's spending binge
with a $10 billion blowout to a near-record $239 billion.

AAP rft/apm

KEYWORD: ECONOMY HOWARD

1999 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.