NZ imports hit record in Oct

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WELLINGTON, Nov 27 (AFP): Record imports in October pushed New Zealand's trade deficit to the second highest level ever for the month, official figures showed today.
But the deficit for the month of 942 million dollars (520 million US) was below economists' expectations of around one billion dollars, and less as a percentage of exports than the average for October over the last five years.
The trade deficit for the year to October was 5.2 billion dollars, up from 5.05 billion dollars in the year to September, Statistics New Zealand said.
Imports for the month of October were a record 4.8 billion dollars, a rise of 15.3 per cent from a year earlier. Imports of petroleum products and crude oil rose 337 million dollars from a year earlier to lead the rise in the overall figure.
Exports rose 13.8 per cent from a year earlier to 3.8 billion dollars, led by gains in shipments of dairy products, Statistics New Zealand said.
"The growth in the exports trend has eased since January 2008 following a period of strong growth from June 2007," it said.
"The slower trend growth in 2008 has coincided with the drought in the early part of the year."
Export values have been boosted by a fall in the New Zealand dollar, which slumped 4.8 per cent against the central bank's trade weighted index from the previous month.
The New Zealand dollar was 19.5 per cent lower from its peak against the trade weighted index in July 2007.