-Jason Attewell, the statistics office's international statistics manager
Another set of upbeat statistics was published this week, as Statistics New Zealand showed trade surplus widened further in March, as strong dairy volumes pushed exports receipts to its highest level ever.
The country reported on a $920 million trade surplus last month, rising from $793 million a month earlier and beating analysts' forecasts for a $900 million surplus. Figures also showed that exports advanced 15.2% on a yearly basis, hitting $5.08 billion and exceeding the $5 billion-mark for the first time in the nation's history. Once again, China, Kiwi's largest trading partner, showed surprisingly strong demand, being again the highest importer, accounting for some $1.1 billion of the total exports volume. Australia stood at the second place, with shipments to the resource-rich economy standing at $800 million. At the same time, imports advanced as well, totalling $4.16 billion, coming almost in line with markets' forecasts and influenced by a huge one-off purchase of an oil-drilling platform. March is statistically considered to be one of the strongest months for the country in terms of exports mostly due to the seasonal nature of agricultural production and strong level of dairy– the largest export product. Even though, the latest figures are just another proof of the solid footing of the New Zealand economy, bolstering the case the central bank will continue tightening its monetary policy in the coming months.
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