- Jason Attewell, Statistics New Zealand
According to the latest data released New Zealand's trade balance accelerated in November, but remained in negative territory for the fifth consecutive month. The merchandise trade deficit widened to $705 million in November, down from $846 million in October. Meanwhile, a median estimate of economists predicted a $500 million shortfall. Compared to the previous year, the value of goods exports went down by $219 million $3.86 billion. Moreover, shipments of meat and offal led the decrease, falling 31%. Exports of milk powder, butter and cheese, in turn, advanced 2.6%. Exports to the European Union dropped 32% and to the United States by 23%, while other export destinations, including China, Japan and Australia, were little changed. Although, goods imports declined by $310 million to $4.6 billion and capital goods led the fall with a 26% drop. The import of intermediate goods and consumption goods also fell. Now, attention of economists focuses on the release of third quarter GDP figures, which are scheduled for Thursday.
In the meantime, the New Zealand economy is forecast to grow 0.9% in the September quarter, following an identical increase in each of the past three quarters.
© Dukascopy Bank SA