New Zealand recorded a seasonally adjusted current account surplus of $340 million in the September quarter -- the first such surplus since late 1988.
Publishing the data today, Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) said the change from a deficit to a surplus was mostly due to a narrowing of the investment income deficit. A fall in goods exports was mostly offset by a fall in goods imports.
The actual balance of payments was a better than expected deficit of $1.4 billion in the September quarter, compared to the median forecast of economists in a Reuters poll for a deficit of $2.6b.
The current account, also known as the balance of payments, measures all of New Zealand's transactions with the outside world.
The annual deficit was $5.7b, which amounts to 3.1% of gross domestic product (GDP). That compared to a current account deficit of $10.4b or 5.6% of GDP in the June year, and $15.4b or 8.4% of GDP for the September 2008 year.
