New Zealand posted a seasonally adjusted current account shortfall of NZ$2.1 billion in the second quarter of 2015, Statistics New Zealand said on Wednesday – down from the $1.6 billion deficit in the three months prior.
The balance of goods was a deficit of NZ$621 million in the second quarter, mainly due to a rise in imports of goods, the bureau said.
A combination of rising oil prices and a record volume of imported petroleum products caused a NZ$350 million increase in the value of goods imported this quarter.
“A maintenance shutdown at the Marsden Point refinery reduced capacity to process crude oil, which meant more refined petrol and diesel needed to be imported,” international statistics senior manager Jason Attewell said.
Falls in exported forestry products and meat products brought down the total value of exported goods by NZ$167 million compared with the second quarter.
“Both a rise in imported goods and a fall in exports of goods meant the current account deficit was $463 million larger than in the March 2015 quarter,” Attewell said. “A current account deficit means that New Zealand’s overseas expenditure exceeds our earnings.”
The annual current account balance was a deficit of NZ$8.3 billion (3.5 percent of GDP) for the year ended June 2015. This compares with a deficit of NZ$8.1 billion (3.4 percent of GDP) for the year ended March 2015.
The larger current account deficit was mainly due to a combination of decreased goods exports and increased goods imports, the bureau said.
New Zealand’s net liability position, which measures the value of our overseas assets less our overseas liabilities, was NZ$149.7 billion (62.2 percent of GDP) in Q2, NZ$2.5 billion smaller than in the first quarter, due largely to market price changes.
New Zealand’s net external debt position – the difference between overseas lending and borrowing, increased to NZ$138.2 billion in the June 2015 quarter (57.5 percent of GDP) as our overseas borrowing increased by more than our overseas lending.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com