10 / 140
10 Business View Australia - August 2015
OPENING LINES
markedly lower realisations being the
norm. As a result of this, investments
and exploration in the mining
sector have reduced considerably
as businesses have deferred their
expansion plans.
Despite these setbacks caused
by extraneous factors, particularly
the slowing down of the Chinese
economy and the consequent fall
in the prices of raw materials, many
sectors of Australian business
continue to grow. The construction
industry is doing well and property
prices, especially in major cities,
are on the upswing.
The agricultural sector is also doing
well and the increasing middle class
population in Southeast Asia and
China is creating a ready market for
the export of agricultural produce
from the country. The retail and
franchising sectors also continue to
grow steadily.
The country’s Gross Domestic
Product grew by 2.3% in the first
quarter of 2015 over the same
quarter in the previous year. It is
expected that the growth for the full
year will be in the region of 2 to 2.5%.
Australia’s economy is dominated by
the service sector which accounts for
65% of total GDP. But its economic
success in the last few years was due
to the growth of commodity prices.
However, the mining sector accounts
for only 13.5% of the economy. In the
years to come, even if commodity
prices do not regain their earlier
trajectory, the country’s economy will
continue to grow in the 2 to 3% range,
as is to be expected of a developed
country.