New Zealand reports record monthly trade surplus in April: data

There was a record monthly trade surplus of 1.1 billion NZ dollars (880 million U.S. dollars), or 24 percent of the value of exports in April, Statistics New Zealand said on Monday.


"This is the highest monthly surplus ever recorded and the highest in almost 20 years as a percentage of exports," Statistics New Zealand overseas trade manager Neil Kelly said. "Contributing to the surplus, exports in April reached 4.7 billion NZ dollars, also a new high."


April was the second consecutive month that exports hit a record high, after an 11 percent increase in March to 4.5 billion NZ dollars.


Imports also rose in April, up 7 percent from a year ago, to 3.5 billion NZ dollars, led by higher petrol imports.


The record monthly trade surplus pushed the annual surplus of exports over imports to 1.2 billion NZ dollars, the highest since 1994.
(Source:http://news.xinhuanet.com)