New Zealand current account deficit hit 9-year high

Omkar Godbole FXStreet Contributor

Stats New Zealand reported a seasonally adjusted current account deficit for the March 2018 quarter at $3 billion- the highest level since the 2008 global financial crisis.

The goods deficit widened to $1.7 billion in the March 2018 quarter, due to strong imports of petroleum and machinery and equipment (such as tractors), according to Stats New Zealand. Meanwhile, exports of goods fell 5.9 percent from the December 2017.

The current account deficit for the year ended March 2018 was $7.9 billion or 2.8 percent of GDP vs 2.6 percent of GDP in the year ended March 2017.

Author

Omkar Godbole

FXStreet Contributor

Omkar Godbole, editor and analyst, joined FXStreet after four years as a research analyst at several Indian brokerage companies.

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