New Zealand Q4 Current Account Deficit NZ$1.599 Billion

(RTTNews) - New Zealand posted a seasonally adjusted current account deficit of NZ$1.599 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016, Statistics New Zealand said on Wednesday.

That followed the NZ$2.019 billion shortfall in the three months prior.

"New Zealand earned $2.0 billion from investment overseas, $129 million more than in the September quarter," international statistics senior manager Daria Kwon said. "A large portion of this extra income was reinvested back into the overseas subsidiaries, instead of being paid out as dividends."

The primary income deficit fell NZ$140 million to NZ$2.043 billion, while the secondary income increased by NZ$236 million to a surplus of NZ$68 million.

The services surplus increased by NZ$174 million to NZ$1.208 billion and the goods deficit increased by NZ$130 million to reach NZ$833 million.

For all of 2016, the current account deficit was NZ$7.1 billion (2.7 percent of GDP; it was 3.4 percent of GDP in 2015).

New Zealand's net international liability position was NZ$156.5 billion (59.9 percent of GDP) in the fourth quarter, down from a revised NZ$166.1 billion (64.8 percent of GDP) in Q3.

New Zealand's external debt position was NZ$143.5 billion (55.0 percent of GDP) in Q4, down from NZ$149.1 billion (58.2 percent of GDP) in the third quarter.