Australia's current account deficit widened in the 3 months through September as exports of coal and iron ore plunged amid falling commodity prices.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics said that the shortfall in goods, services and investment increased to USD 14.9 billion from a revised USD 12.4 billion. The result matched the USD 14.6 billion deficit forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
The Reserve Bank of Australia is widely anticipated to return official interest rates to the emergency lows of the 2009 financial crisis to help spur non mining sources of economic growth.
Reports published said that mining profits tumbled sharply in the September quarter after global commodity prices fell, sending down wages for the first time since 2009.
The ABS said that tuesday's report showed net exports added 0.1% point to gross domestic product growth in the Q3.
Meanwhile, exports of metal ores such as iron ore fell 15% in the September quarter, while prices fell by the same amount. Coal shipments slumped 8% and prices fell 7%.
