Sources: ABS; RBA  6  BIS Review 37/2010  This expected rise in business investment is underpinned by the strong outlook for the terms of trade. Recently, the spot prices of iron ore and coal have risen, and the prices that exporters will receive over the next year look likely to be substantially higher than those received over the past year (Graph 9).
Governments had run up large amounts of external debt in the 1970s in an attempt to maintain growth in the face of oil price shocks and macroeconomic mismanagement at home.