Australian business investment falls 5.2% in Q1

Private investment fell in Australia during the first quarter of 2016, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The report reveals that A$30.6 billion was invested in the months January to March, which represents a 5.2 percent drop. This is a disappointing outcome, especially given how analysts predicted a smaller drop of three percent.

Much of the decline has been attributed to tough investment conditions in the mining industry, which suffered a 12 percent fall. Manufacturing also struggled, with investment down more than 10 percent.

Service industries are showing small signs of investment growth, with the report stating that investment by ‘other selected industries’ went up by 1.8 percent.

Despite this Australian GDP is expected to have grown by 0.6 percent in Q1, which is the same rate as the final quarter of last year. 

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Read the May 2016 issue of Business Review Australia and Asia magazine