Access Economics said that planned investment in Australia dropped for the first time in 4 years as mining companies scaled back production because of the global economic slowdown. It added that the total value of planned investment projects fell by 5.8% QoQ to AUD 607.2 billion in the fourth quarter from AUD 644.4 billion in the previous three months.

Access Economics said that "The downturn will affect most parts of the Australian economy, with business investment no exception. Project deferrals are starting to mount up. We expect more such announcements over the coming months. The result is likely to be a sharp fall in business investment over the next couple of years."

It was the first drop in Access's measure of planned investment since the fourth quarter of 2004 and the biggest decline since the company began keeping records in 2001. The indicator includes both government and corporate investment and covers more than 2,600 projects, each worth at least AUD 5 million, which are under construction or in planning across the nation.

(Sourced from www.bloomberg.net)