Savings collapse as growth wilts in Australian banking
The household saving ratio fell once more in the June 2015 quarter, concurrent with some of the weakest quarterly figures on economic growth in years.The savings ratio was 6.0 per cent at June, down from 6.8 per cent in March, 8.9 per cent in December 2014 and 13.1 per cent in September.The post GFC peak in this ratio was 15.1 per cent in September 2011.The Australian Bureau of Statistics put net saving at A$17 billion, one third the level of September 2011.It put real net national disposable income per capita at $13,100 in the current quarter, slightly less than the income per person back when Australia wandered into the GFC in late 2008.Reduced mining and construction activity, coupled with a decline in exports, were the main factors to the slowdown in economic growth, the ABS said. It added that "positive contributions came from domestic final demand, and the financial, transport and health industries."In financial services the trend estimate for GDP increased 1.6 per cent. The seasonally adjusted estimate rose 1.3 per cent, "driven by an increase in finance," the bureau said.Household spending on financial services increased by 1.4 per cent over the June 2015 quarter, the fastest rate in one and a half years.