New Zealand trade deficit narrows

New Zealand's trade deficit in September narrowed to almost a third of its level a year earlier as the value of imports slumped, official figures showed Thursday.

The merchandise trade deficit for September was 424 million dollars (309 million US) compared with a deficit of 1.25 billion dollars in the same month last year, Statistics New Zealand said.

The deficit for the year to September was 1.53 billion dollars, down from a revised 2.36 billion dollars in the year to August and 5.05 billion dollars in the previous year to September.

For the month of September, exports fell 10.9 percent from a year earlier to 2.83 billion dollars and imports fell 26.6 percent to 3.25 billion dollars.

The biggest import decline was for oil products, which fell 34.3 percent or 242 million dollars to 463 million dollars, due to lower international oil prices.

Imports of motor vehicles and parts fell 172 million dollars or 42.5 percent to 232 million dollars due to the impact of the economic slowdown, which saw the New Zealand economy shrink for five straight quarters from the start of 2008.

The largest fall in exports was for dairy products, which dropped 18 percent or 95 million dollars from a year earlier to 434 million dollars in September due to a sharp fall in international prices. The fall in dairy prices more than offset a rise of 55.5 percent in quantities of dairy exports. AFP