Current account: New Zealand’s spending deficit with the world widens by $269m

New Zealand’s seasonally adjusted current account deficit widened by $269 million to $7.2 billion in the June 2024 quarter, Stats NZ said today. That has kept the deficit stable as a percentage of GDP, although economists had been hoping it would continue to decline from the high levels it hit during the pandemic.

The increase in the nominal deficit was caused by import spending outpacing export earnings and by a large increase in earnings by overseas investors in New Zealand. Stats NZ noted the primary income deficit widened by $291 million to $3.8 billion during the quarter.



The overseas earnings of New Zealand investors increased by $36 million, while the earnings of overseas investors in New Zealand increased by $263 million..