The NZ Trade Balance for January has just been released.

They came in worse than expected, in fact, it is the largest deficit for any January month on record:

NZ Trade Balance:

Trade Balance (Jan) $914mio deficit Consensus $300mio deficit
- Imports (Jan) $5.32bio Consensus $5.00bio
- Exports (Jan) $4.40bio Consensus $4.80bio

Trade Balance Year to Oct $6.4bio deficit Consensus $5.5bio deficit.

There was a rise in exports, led by milk powder, butter, and cheese, and a fall in meat and edible offal exports. Commodity imports rose, particularly in petroleum, crude oil, and diesel products.

The NZD is marginally lower in immediate response.

Current indicative rates are:

NZD-USD 0.6880 / 0.6905
NZD-AUD 0.9580 / 0.9605
NZD-EUR 0.6040 / 0.6065
NZD-GBP 0.5190 / 0.5215
NZD-JPY 76.10 / 76.35

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