HSC Economic TextBook: Topic 2 Summaries

Australia's trade and financial flow Composition of trade the type of goods and services exported and imported Direction of trade the countries with which Australia trades Trends in Australia's Trade Patterns Trade has always represented a high proportion of Australia's economic activity. This is because Australia has always had products that are in demand elsewhere. It is also partly because Australia has needed to trade in order to obtain new technology and items that ate …

…Tab/>At the end of 2002 the saving rate actually became negative for the first time o<Tab/>The debt servicing ratio (the percentage of export income spent on interest payments on foreign debt) reduced to around 9% in 2002, well below the 20% level of the late 1980s o<Tab/>General rate of tariff phased down to 5%, with slightly higher rates of 15% and 25% for the PMV and TCF