WELLINGTON: New Zealand’s current account deficit widened in the quarter to the end of June, partly due to a shutdown of the country’s only oil refinery, the government statistics agency said Wednesday.
The current account balance widened to a deficit of 2.1 billion NZ dollars (1.33 billion U.S. dollars) in the June quarter, compared with a deficit of 1.6 billion NZ dollars (1.02 billion U. S. dollars) in the March 2015 quarter. A current account deficit means the country’s overseas spending exceeded its earnings.
A combination of rising oil prices and a record volume of imported petroleum products caused a rise of 350 million NZ dollars (222.49 million U.S. dollars) in the value of goods imported this quarter.
“A maintenance shutdown at the Marsden Point refinery reduced capacity to process crude oil, which meant more refined petrol and diesel needed to be imported,” international statistics senior manager Jason Attewell said in a statement.
Falls in exported forestry products and meat products brought down the total value of exported goods by 167 million NZ dollars ( 106.16 million U.S. dollars) compared with the March 2015 quarter.
“Both a rise in imported goods and a fall in exports of goods meant the current account deficit was 463 million NZ dollars (294. 33 million U.S. dollars) larger than in the March 2015 quarter,” Attewell said.
The annual current account balance was a deficit of 8.3 billion NZ dollars (5.27 billion U.S. dollars), or 3.5 percent of GDP for the year ended June, up from a deficit of 8.1 billion NZ dollars ( 5.15 billion U.S. dollars), or 3.4 percent of GDP) for the year ended March. The larger current account deficit was mainly due to a combination of decreased goods exports and increased goods imports.
