New Zealand recorded a $414 million trade surplus in the month of June, with imports falling faster than exports.
Statistics New Zealand figures show exports declined 4% to $4 billion compared with June last year, due to a fall in dairy products, while imports fell 7% to $3.6 billion.
For the June quarter, there was a trade deficit of $669 million. On an annual basis the trade balance recorded a $777 million deficit.
ASB Bank chief economist Nick Tuffley says exports in the latest month were higher than he had expected.
He says quite a lot of the lift has come through on meat exports which is an area where there has been quite a lot of volatility recently.
Mr Tuffley says there was a lift in shipments earlier in the year due to drought bringing forward slaughter and more recently there have been disruptions in exports to China.
