Australia

September quarter national accounts statistics showed export volumes picking up a lacklustre 1Ѕ%. October trade balance numbers showed A$ export values growing 2%.

Australian banking firm ANZ has revealed that the company is sourcing through brokers as much as 30% of its new loans to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

AMP Ltd's banking business will distribute a range of commercial and consumer finance products from American conglomerate GE. The products will be available through AMP's financial planners and its direct sales channels.

Canberra's small businesses will get their own commissioner. The post, announced in yesterday's Economic White Paper, but promised before the 2001 election, will be a statutory appointment reporting directly to Business Minister Ted Quinlan.

A rush of new players and products has barely dented the dominance of Australia's big four banks in the $80bn small-business lending market.

An initiative has been launched by some of Australia's top capital and corporate advisory services to utilise the Internet to target the advisory and capital needs of the country's small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) sector.

A report published in November on issues facing Victoria's manufacturing industry, Finance for Growth, Agenda for New Manufacturing, says a common complaint among manufacturers is that their banks have not kept pace with the demand for mo

Industry representative groups have given qualified approval after a Federal Government move to establish a national small business consultative body.

Small business trading conditions bounced back in the past three months as the economy picked up, a new survey shows.

Bigger companies are now taking longer to pay creditors.