2018.10.0400:28:00UTC+00Australia Trade Surplus Increases In August

Australia's trade surplus increased in August on higher exports, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday.

The trade surplus rose to a seasonally adjusted A$1.6 billion from A$1.55 billion in July. Economists had forecast a fall in surplus, to A$1.45 billion.

Exports of goods and services gained 1 percent on month to A$36.56 billion. At the same time, imports remained broadly unchanged in August, at A$34.96 billion.

The small rise in the international trade surplus in August provides more evidence that the US-China trade war is not affecting Australia's external sector, Paul Dales, an economist at Capital Economics, said.

In fact, the recent weakening in the Australian dollar will probably mean that the external sector makes a decent contribution to GDP growth next year.