- Jason Attewell, Statistics New Zealand
New Zealand trade deficit widened in July as imports continued to increased, though dairy exports rose for the first time in nearly a year. The country booked a NZ$649 million shortfall for July and a NZ$2.69 billion trade gap for the year ended in July, according to Statistics New Zealand. Exports worth NZ$4.2 billion in July were outweighed by imports of NZ$4.8 billion. However, there were signs of some improvement in exports to the key trading partner, China, after the steep decline in the past couple of years. The value of total exports surged a seasonally adjusted 8% between June and July this year, an increase of NZ$317 million, more than reversing a near 6% decline between May and June. Seasonally adjusted exports to China rose almost 10% to NZ$854 million between June and July. However, outbound shipments to China is 26% down from the peak seen at the end of 2013. Annual exports to China have plummeted by more than 27% to NZ$8.3 billion, though it remains New Zealand's second biggest export market after Australia.
The recent decline in the New Zealand Dollar supported exporters, as the currency slumped 14% on year in July and was down 3.5% on a monthly basis. The flipside of the Kiwi Dollar's decline is that consumers have to pay more for imported goods, with the impact of exchange rate movements on consumer prices typically lags for a few months.
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