New Zealand trade balance comes better-than-expected

FXStreet (Bali) - New Zealand trade balance (MoM) came in at $-472M in August, above expectations of $-1275M, wiih the annual reading also above a forecasts of $1.22B in August, with actual being $2.02B. New Zealand exports were $3.52B vs $3.15B expected, while imports came in at $3.52B vs $4.45B expected.

Key facts (NZ Bureau of Statistics)

For August 2014 compared with August 2013:

Exports rose $227 million (6.9 percent) to $3.5 billion.

Live animals and milk powder, butter, and cheese led the rise.

Imports were down $536 million (12 percent) to $4.0 billion.

All main imports categories fell.

There was a trade deficit of $472 million (13 percent of exports).

The trend for exports has been falling since January 2014.