Wellington, March 21 (IANS) New Zealand's current account deficit fell in the December quarter last year, as exports particularly dairy products rose and foreign investors took lower dividends from the country, the government statistics agency announced Wednesday.
New Zealand's current account deficit was 2.03 billion NZ dollars ($1.63 billion) in the December quarter, down 760 million NZ dollars from the September quarter deficit, said a statement from Statistics New Zealand.
The smaller deficit was mainly due to a higher goods surplus, with exports of dairy products the main contributor to an increase of 600 million NZ dollars in goods exports, reported Xinhua.
The figures brought the current account to 8.3 billion NZ dollars, or 4 percent of GDP, for the whole of last year, compared with a deficit of 8.8 billion NZ dollars, or 4.3 percent of GDP, for the year ended September 2011.
New Zealand's current account trend showed a widening deficit over the past two years, with a surplus on trade in goods and services outweighed by an increasing income deficit, mainly caused by interest payments on New Zealand's rising international debt.
"Exports of dairy products reached record-high levels this quarter," balance of payments manager John Morris said in a statement on the December quarter figures.
A fall in New Zealand's investment income deficit with the rest of the world also contributed to the fall in the current account deficit.
New Zealand's current account deficit was 2.03 billion NZ dollars ($1.63 billion) in the December quarter, down 760 million NZ dollars from the September quarter deficit, said a statement from Statistics New Zealand.
The smaller deficit was mainly due to a higher goods surplus, with exports of dairy products the main contributor to an increase of 600 million NZ dollars in goods exports, reported Xinhua.
The figures brought the current account to 8.3 billion NZ dollars, or 4 percent of GDP, for the whole of last year, compared with a deficit of 8.8 billion NZ dollars, or 4.3 percent of GDP, for the year ended September 2011.
New Zealand's current account trend showed a widening deficit over the past two years, with a surplus on trade in goods and services outweighed by an increasing income deficit, mainly caused by interest payments on New Zealand's rising international debt.
"Exports of dairy products reached record-high levels this quarter," balance of payments manager John Morris said in a statement on the December quarter figures.
A fall in New Zealand's investment income deficit with the rest of the world also contributed to the fall in the current account deficit.
No comments: