Australia Yearbook - 2001

1020 Year Book Australia 2001
30.15 LEVELS OF AUSTRALIAN INVESTMENT ABROAD AND FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN AUSTRALIA—At
30 June
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
$m $m $m $m $m $m
Levels of Australian investment abroad –167 752 –177 859 –208 869 –246 998 –256 140 –287 397
Direct investment abroad(a) –62 356 –66 296 –77 368 –91 201 –90 273 –96 570
Equity capital and reinvested earnings –64 918 –67 207 –77 845 –91 582 –92 132 –99 561
Other capital 2 562 911 477 381 1 859 2 991
Claims on affiliated enterprises –3 018 –3 545 –4 489 –4 821 –5 387 –5 632
Liabilities to affiliated enterprises 5 580 4 457 4 967 5 201 7 246 8 623
Portfolio investment assets –56 322 –59 563 –70 244 –82 589 –90 704 –109 963
Equity securities –35 160 –37 485 –47 523 –55 303 –60 497 –78 001
Debt securities –21 162 –22 078 –22 721 –27 286 –30 207 –31 963
Other investment assets –28 890 –32 940 –38 466 –48 948 –51 208 –52 916
Trade credits –6 295 –6 056 –7 256 –8 027 –8 813 –9 087
Loans and other assets –19 286 –23 484 –26 429 –34 022 –35 096 –36 925
Currency and deposits –3 309 –3 400 –4 780 –6 898 –7 300 –6 905
Reserve assets –20 184 –19 060 –22 791 –24 260 –23 954 –27 948
Levels of foreign investment in Australia 422 750 458 600 511 802 571 755 613 264 691 172
Direct investment in Australia(b) 123 409 137 236 148 707 154 953 171 574 193 161
Equity capital and reinvested earnings 104 633 117 154 128 051 134 344 151 706 172 321
Other capital 18 776 20 082 20 657 20 609 19 868 20 840
Claims on direct investors –5 043 –3 751 –4 743 –5 888 –7 118 –7 482
Liabilities to direct investors 23 819 23 834 25 400 26 496 26 986 28 322
Portfolio investment liabilities 236 290 264 885 301 046 338 567 353 174 395 612
Equity securities 64 131 73 390 87 265 105 666 125 987 140 901
Debt securities 172 159 191 495 213 781 232 901 227 187 254 711
Other investment liabilities 63 051 56 479 62 049 78 236 88 515 102 399
Trade credits 7 211 5 822 6 056 7 289 7 762 7 633
Loans 37 729 31 506 31 906 33 859 36 239 47 194
Currency and deposits 17 626 17 355 21 764 34 159 40 620 43 342
Other liabilities 485 1 795 2 322 2 929 3 895 4 230
(a) Net direct investment abroad, after deduction of liabilities to direct investment enterprises abroad. (b) Net direct investment in
Australia, after deduction of claims of Australian direct investment enterprises on direct investors.
Source: Balance of Payments and International Investment Position, Australia (5302.0).
An account of investment in and by the six colonies
Australia’s International Investment Position
summarises Australia’s financial assets and
liabilities with the rest of the world. The
position at any given time is the accumulation of
the surpluses or deficits that Australia has
produced with the rest of the world over time,
mainly as a result of its trade and the receipt
and payment of income on investments. In the
year 2000 we have a very complete framework
for the quarterly compilation of Australia’s
International Investment Position. Interest by
users extends to direction of investment, type
and instrument of investment and into sector
and industry of investment. However, this
complete and detailed framework has been
developed quite recently. In 1901 statisticians
focused very much on ‘real‘ activity, such as
buying and selling, imports and exports, and any
investment statistics were calculated and
published in bits and pieces, depending on the
interests of the compiler or author, giving us a
very fragmented picture.
At the beginning of the century, the only source
of funds invested in Australia was the United
Kingdom. Coghlan 1 states that total foreign
investment in Australia (both equity and debt)
at the end of 1901 was £320m, or £83 11s 4d per
inhabitant. In current prices that is equivalent to
$31b, or $8,000 per inhabitant. By June 2000,
foreign investment in Australia had increased
over twenty fold to $677b, or $35,568 per
inhabitant. Writing in 1902, Coghlan’s main
concern is easily recognisable today. He was
worried about “the tribute paid yearly by
Australasia to London”, or the ability of Australia
(and New Zealand) to service their debts.