1350.0.55.001 - Australian Economic Indicators Glossary, 2006  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 31/07/2007  Reissue
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Balance of payments basisA basis for compiling international merchandise trade statistics, which records transactions between residents and non-residents at the time change of ownership occurs.
Reference: International Merchandise Trade, Australia, Concepts, Sources and Methods. cat. no. 5489.0.

Balance of State or TerritoryThe aggregation of all Statistical Divisions (SD) within a state or territory other than its Capital City SD. Further details are included in Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC). cat. no. 1216.0.
Reference: Demographic Estimates and Projections: Concepts, Sources and Methods. cat. no. 3228.0.

BallastHeavy material carried by a ship for ensuring proper stability, so as to avoid capsizing and to secure effective propulsion.
Reference: International Merchandise Trade, Australia, Concepts, Sources and Methods. cat. no. 5489.0.

Balance sheetA statement of an entity's financial position at a specific point in time. Contains information on assets, liabilities and owners' equity at a specific date.
Reference: Australian System of Government Finance Statistics: Concepts, Sources and Methods. cat. no. 5514.0.55.001.

Bank accepted bill of exchangeA bank accepted bill of exchange is a bill of exchange that lists a bank as the acceptor of the bill. As an acceptor, a bank has a liability to pay the holder the face value of the bill at maturity. In certain circumstances, the liability is contingent on the borrower, or drawer, defaulting.
Reference: Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).

Base periodBase period refers to the period that provides the weights for an index. See also Reference period.
Reference: Australian National Accounts: Concepts, Sources and Methods. cat. no. 5216.0.

Basic priceThe amount receivable by the producer from the purchaser for a unit of a good or service produced as output minus any tax payable, and plus any subsidy receivable, on that unit as a consequence of its production or sale; it excludes any transport charges invoiced separately by the producer.
Reference: Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product. cat. no. 5206.0.

Bearer securitiesDebt securities for which the issuer does not maintain a register of current holders. Settlement of transactions (trades) may be effected by delivery.
Reference: Australian National Accounts: Financial Accounts. cat. no. 5232.0.

BeerIncludes ale, stout and porter; excludes low alcohol beer containing less than 1.15% but more than 0.5%, by volume of alcohol.
Reference: Manufacturing Production, Australia. cat. no. 8301.0.55.001.

BenchmarkingBenchmarking can have two meanings. The first refers to the practice of extrapolating from a high quality observation for a particular period, or interpolating between two or more high quality observations, using a lesser quality, but more frequent indicator. The second meaning refers to the practice of imputing quarterly values for a statistic by using a quarterly indicator, such that the resulting quarterly estimates are constrained to sum to the annual estimates.
Reference: Australian National Accounts: Concepts, Sources and Methods. cat. no. 5216.0.

Bills of exchangeA bill of exchange is an unconditional order drawn (issued) by one party, sent to another party (usually a bank) for acceptance and made out to, or to the order of, a third party, or to bearer. It is a negotiable instrument with an original term to maturity of 180 days or less. Although merchant banks were the promoters of the bill market in Australia, today almost all bills are bank accepted or endorsed because investors expect bills to be a first-class credit.
Reference: Australian National Accounts: Concepts, Sources and Methods. cat. no. 5216.0.

BirthThe delivery of a child, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy, who, after being born, breathes or shows any evidence of life such as heartbeat.
Reference: Australian Demographic Statistics. cat. no. 3101.0.

Birth intervalBirth interval refers to the interval between two live births. It is usually estimated by subtracting a later birth date from the immediately preceding birth date. The interval between marriage and the first birth is known as the first birth interval, that between the first birth and the second as the second birth interval, that between the second birth and third birth as the third birth interval and so on.

A birth interval can be open or closed. An open birth interval is that period following the birth of the last child before the interval is closed by the birth of another child.
Reference: Demographic Estimates and Projections: Concepts, Sources and Methods. cat. no. 3228.0.
Birth orderBirth order refers to the numerical ordering of the total number of children born alive to a woman, including the present child. The first birth order refers to the first birth, the second birth order to the second birth, the third birth order to the third birth and so on.
Reference: Demographic Estimates and Projections: Concepts, Sources and Methods. cat. no. 3228.0.

Birth order-specific birth ratesBirth order-specific birth rates are the number of live births of a specific order (occurred or registered) during the calendar year, according to age of mother, per 1,000 of the female estimated resident population of the same age at 30 June. The rates are calculated for each order of birth. The rates at each age (or age group) and birth order are added to provide total fertility rates by birth order, which makes it possible to examine the level of fertility at each birth order and the relative contribution of fertility at each birth order to the total fertility rate.
Reference: Demographic Estimates and Projections: Concepts, Sources and Methods. cat. no. 3228.0.

Bonds and notesSecurities which are traded in financial markets with an original contractual maturity of more than one year. These securities provide the holder with unconditional rights to predetermined income on specified dates and to a fixed amount on a specified date as repayment of the principal, except for perpetual bonds and debentures.
Reference: International Merchandise Trade, Australia, Concepts, Sources and Methods. cat. no. 5489.0.

Bonds etcBonds etc include: Treasury bonds issued by the Commonwealth Government; Various series of inscribed stock which are issued by the central borrowing authorities and other government-owned corporations. These are known as semi-government securities by professional traders; Debentures, transferable certificates of deposit, and unsecured notes, which are collectively called corporate securities or medium-term notes by professional traders; Asset-backed bonds including mortgage-backed bonds; and Convertible notes prior to conversion.
Reference: Australian National Accounts: Concepts, Sources and Methods. cat. no. 5216.0.

BonusesPayments made to a job occupant that are in addition to regular wages and salaries and which generally relate to the job occupant's, or the organisation's, performance. In the Labour Price Index, the term 'bonuses' refers to bonuses and commissions.
Reference: Labour Price Index, Australia. cat. no. 6345.0.

BOPBECClassification used for balance of payments purposes, which shows imports according to three major categories - Consumption goods, Capital goods, and Intermediate and other merchandise goods. It is based on the categories of BEC, with some minor variations which affect motor spirit, passenger motor cars, a range of military equipment, video recording or reproducing apparatus, and certain types of other imports which are not classified according to kind.
Reference: International Merchandise Trade, Australia, Concepts, Sources and Methods. cat. no. 5489.0.

BPM5International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s Balance of Payments Manual, Fifth edition, 1993. It is the current international standard followed by Australia for the compilation of balance of payment statistics.
Reference: International Merchandise Trade, Australia, Concepts, Sources and Methods. cat. no. 5489.0.

Broad Economic Categories (BEC)A three-digit classification, which groups commodities according their main end use, introduced by the United Nations in 1970, suitable for the general economic analysis of international merchandise trade data.
Reference: International Merchandise Trade, Australia, Concepts, Sources and Methods. cat. no. 5489.0.

Broad moneyThe widest definition of money published by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). Broad money is defined as currency plus bank current deposits of the private non-bank sector, plus all other bank deposits of the private non-bank sector plus borrowings from the private sector by non-bank financial intermediaries (NBFIs), less the latters' holdings of currency and bank deposits.
Reference: Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).

BuildingA building is a rigid, fixed and permanent structure which has a roof. Its intended purpose is primarily to house people, plant, machinery, vehicles, goods or livestock. An integral feature of a building's design is the provision for regular access by persons in order to satisfy its intended use.
Reference: Building Approvals, Australia. cat. no. 8731.0.

Building - CommencedA building is defined as commenced when the first physical building activity has been performed on site in the form of materials fixed in place and/or labour expended (this includes site preparation but excludes delivery of building materials, the drawing of plans and specifications and the construction of non-building infrastructures, such as roads).
Reference: Building Activity, Australia. cat. no. 8750.0.

Building - CompletedA building is defined as completed when building activity has progressed to the stage where the building can fulfil its intended function. In practice, the ABS regards buildings as completed when notified as such by respondents to the survey.
Reference: Building Activity, Australia. cat. no. 8750.0.

BunkersThis term includes all dutiable petroleum products loaded aboard a vessel for consumption by that vessel.
Reference: International Merchandise Trade, Australia, Concepts, Sources and Methods. cat. no. 5489.0.