Budget Paper No.6 1997/98 Northern Territory Economy
Tabled Paper 3223
Tabled Papers for 7th Assembly 1994 - 1997; Tabled papers; ParliamentNT
1997-04-30
Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory under Standing Order 240. Where copyright subsists with a third party it remains with the original owner and permission may be required to reuse the material.
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https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00042
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/289257
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/404114
Although still very high by world standards, slower growth also occurred in ASEAN in 1996 with the overall growth rate declining from 8.1% to 7.1%. ASEANs newest member, Vietnam, experienced the fastest rate of growth in 1996 at 9.3%. Vietnams economy is the least developed in ASEAN with a per capita GDP of only $US 251. The Malaysian economy grew by 8.2% in 1996, slightly down on a year earlier with the economy buoyed by strong domestic demand but restrained by weak external demand and a worsening shortage of labour, especially for skilled labour. Malaysian growth is expected to continue at about 8% over the next two years. The Indonesian economy is ASEANs largest. In 1996 it grew by 7.7%, slightly down on a year earlier and in 1997 and 1998 growth is expected to be slightly lower at 7.4%. Indonesia continues to enjoy a strong trade surplus, dominated by exports of oil. A large and worsening current account deficit has forced the Government to maintain a tight monetary policy which is curbing growth in imports. The Singapore economy continues to enjoy strong growth, with a growth rate of 7.0% in 1996 expected to continue over the next two years. A major challenge faced by Singapore is that rising wage rates are reducing the competitiveness of Singapores exports. This requires Singapore to place more emphasis on education to improve its skills base. The Philippine economy continues to accelerate with growth of 5.5% in 1996 approaching the ASEAN average after falling behind for a number of years. Growth is expected to continue to accelerate over the next two years. Table 4.1 shows the size of selected Asian economies relative to Australia in 1986 and 1996. In addition to demonstrating the relative size of the economies in these two years, the table demonstrates the long-term growth rate of each economy compared to Australia. It shows that all the selected Asian countries grew at a faster rate than Australia over the past ten years, except Japan, which grew slightly slower. China was the fastest growing economy over that period of time. Relative to the size of the Australian economy, Japan is about 15 times Table 4.1 Asian GDP Relative to Australia Australia = 100 1986 1996 Japan 1 475 1 459 China 107 204 Three Dragons 167 252 Hong Kong 32 41 South Korea 83 134 Taiwan 52 76 ASEAN 124 184 Brunei 2 2 Indonesia 40 59 Malaysia 16 25 Philippines 19 20 Singapore 13 23 Thailand 30 49 Vietnam 4 5 Source: ABS Cat. No. 5206.0, Monetary Authority of Singapore, Asia Pacific Consensus Forecasts Regional Economic Environment 23