Australia Yearbook - 2001

Chapter 29—National accounts 985
Graph 29.16 shows net lending by institutional
sector as a proportion of GDP. A positive
percentage for a sector indicates that it is a net
lender to other sectors; a negative percentage
indicates that it is a net borrower. The household
sector has been a net lender for all years except
1993–94, 1994–95, 1997–98 and 1998–99 when it
was a net borrower. As a proportion of GDP,
borrowing by households was 2.1% in 1998–99.
Non-financial corporations have been net
borrowers over the whole period from 1965–66
to 1998–99, and the amounts borrowed have
fluctuated significantly from year to year; as a
proportion of GDP, their net borrowing was 4.1%
in 1998–99. After being a net borrower thoughout
the 1980s, the financial corporations sector
returned to being a net lender in 1990–91 and has
remained so since then. In 1998–99 financial
corporations net lending represented 1.1% of
GDP. After recording a record level of borrowing
in 1992–93 as a proportion of GDP (6.0%),
general government borrowing has steadily
declined, and from 1997–98 this sector became a
net lender. In 1998–99 general government net
lending represented 0.8% of GDP.
External account
The external account is derived from the detailed
balance of payments current and capital accounts
(see Chapter 30, International accounts and
trade). It shows Australia’s exports and imports,
incomes and transfers received by Australian
residents from non-residents, and incomes and
transfers payable to non-residents by Australian
residents. The balance on the external account is
net lending to non-residents. This is the same as
the balance in the national capital account.
Tables 29.17 and 29.18 show the external account
for a number of years between 1965–66 and
1998–99; table 29.17 shows a series of snapshots
at five-yearly intervals to 1985–86, while table 29.18
shows annual time series from 1990–91 to
1998–99.
Australia has generally been a net borrower of
funds from overseas. In the national accounts,
this situation is reflected by a negative value for
net lending to non-residents. Australia was a net
lender to non-residents in 1972–73. Net
borrowing from non-residents, expressed as a
proportion of GDP, increased significantly during
the early 1980s and has remained at relatively
high levels since then. Graph 29.19 shows net
lending to non-residents as a proportion of GDP
since 1965–66.
The importance of foreign trade to the Australian
economy is illustrated by graph 29.20, which
shows the ratios of exports and imports of goods
and services to GDP for the financial years
1965–66 to 1998–99. In 1998–99 the import ratio
was 21.3% and the export ratio was 18.8%.
29.16 NET LENDING, By Sector—Share of GDP
Non-financial corporations
Financial corporations
General government
Households
%
10
5
0
–5
–10
1965–66 1969–70 1974–75 1979–80 1983–84 1988–89 1993–94 1998–99
Source: Australian System of National Accounts (5204.0).