• Strong Economy with per capita GDP on par with the four dominant West European economies.
• Strong emphasis on reforms, low inflation, a housing market bloom, growing ties with china have led to its 16 years of expansion.
• The budget has been in surplus since 2002 due to strong revenue growth.
• Major exporter of agricultural products, minerals, metals, and fossil fuels.
• Excellent domestic and international telephone services.
• “The strength of Australia’s economy has been highlighted in recent years by its ability to withstand a number of internal and external events, including a major drought, a housing boom and the Asian financial and economic crises.”(About Australia)
Weaknesses
• “Socially permissible systems for information exchange, vertically and horizontally (professional cross-sectoral committees are a step in the right direction on the government level).” (SWOT Analysis)
• Enforcement of environmental and economic laws and regulations.
Opportunities
• Australia has a business-friendly regulatory environment. “According to the World Bank, Australia is the fastest place in the world in which to start a business, with regulatory procedures taking just two days”. (About Australia)
• Has the fewest restrictions on product markets of all of its 30 member countries, the lowest level of public ownership of business and the least restrictive impact of business regulation on economic behavior.
• “Australia recently partially deregulated the banking sector, removing many interest rate limits and allowing the entry of 16 new foreign banks, five of which were U.S. banks. Chase Manhattan and Citibank are moving rapidly into the retail banking sector and beginning to provide competition for what was a rather entrenched banking system”. (Government Industries)
Threats
• Drought, robust import demand, and a strong currency have pushed the trade deficit up in recent years
Works Cited
Cited: http://www.tellusconsultants.com/swot.html#Weaknesses (SWOT Analysis) http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1052/is_v9/ai_4123573 (Government Industries) http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/global_economy.html (About Australia) http://www.asiatravelinfo.com/australia/overview.asp