New Zealand Q2 Current Account Surplus NZ$124 Million

Sponsored Links

New Zealand registered a current account surplus of NZ$124 million in the three months to June 2009.

Statistics NZ reported Tuesday that the figure was the first surplus since the March 2003 quarter, with the agency noting that June quarter surpluses are unusual.

Statistics NZ said the seasonally adjusted account was a deficit of NZ$612 million for the June 2009 quarter, which was a reduction from the $2.120 billion deficit posted in the March 2009 quarter.

"The fall was driven by lower profits earned this quarter by foreign-owned New Zealand enterprises, particularly in the banking sector," said NZ Government and International Accounts Manager John Morris.

A single large company transaction heavily influenced the bottom line.

Without that transaction, the real-dollars deficit would have been NZ$537 million.

For the full year to June 2009, the current account deficit totaled $10.614 billion, representing 5.9 percent of GDP and marking the smallest full-year deficit as a percentage of GDP since September 2004.

That compared to a deficit of $14.569 billion or 8.1 percent of GDP for the year to March 2009.

New Zealand registered a current account surplus of NZ$124 million in the three months to June 2009. (Market News Provided by RTTNews)