NZ: All eyes on merchandise trade report - BNZ

Craig Ebert, Senior Economist at BNZ, suggests that the July’s merchandise trade report is going to be an important release for the NZ markets.

Key Quotes

“We think exports and imports were each lower than a year earlier, by 3% and 5% respectively. A stronger NZD will be a downward influence on both sides of the accounts. Weaker meat and milk production of late may also begin to weigh on the exports side, while note there was a large aircraft in July 2015 on the imports side.

All considered, we expect a $611m goods trade deficit for July, but enough to see its annual deficit shrink a little to $3,193m. The market’s expectation is for a monthly deficit of $300m.”