The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that Australia's trade surplus fell to 495 million Australian dollars in August, down from 1.35 billion Australian dollars in July and below analysts' expectations of 2 billion Australian dollars, as imports grew faster than exports. Imports rose 5.8% month on month in August to 46.94 billion Australian dollars, driven by a 22.3% surge in capital goods imports, which included a 79.3% jump in imports of automatic data processing equipment and a 91.1% spike in non-monetary gold imports. Exports rose 3.7% month on month to 47.43 billion Australian dollars, recovering from a 3.3% decline in July, supported by a 20.2% increase in non-monetary gold exports and a 4.7% rise in exports of coal, coke and briquettes. The trade data was released just two days after the Reserve Bank of Australia raised its policy interest rate by 0.25% to 4.60%, its fourth hike this year, citing higher global energy prices and stronger technology goods prices amid demand for artificial intelligence.
RBA hiked its policy rate by 0.25% to 4.60%, citing higher global energy and tech goods prices, signaling a higher-rate environment for the Australian cash rate.
