Australia Current Account Deficit Narrows

Australia's current account deficit narrowed to a seasonally adjusted A$9.13 billion in the third quarter, the Australia Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday.

Economists had expected a current account deficit of A$8.7 billion in the quarter.

The deficit on goods and services was largely unchanged over the quarter, which won't contribute to gross domestic product growth.

Third quarter GDP will be reported Wednesday.

Strong commodity prices and rising export volumes of liquefied natural gas are helping to improve the current account deficit.

A big contribution to the export side of the accounts is now being made by tourism, which visitors from China at record levels, while education is booming, supported by big inflows of foreign students.

Still, an elevated Australian dollar has been a headwind to exports, something highlighted by the Reserve Bank of Australia, which has warned any rise in the currency would slow GDP growth sharply.

Write to James Glynn at james.glynn@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 04, 2017 19:54 ET (00:54 GMT)