The bottom line in the report is that forward-looking indicators of activity are mixed, and pose a downside risk to near term growth forecasts:
- The economy continued to expand in the March 2019 quarter with production GDP increasing by 0.6%.
- The annual current account deficit narrowed as the goods and incomes balances improved, partly offset by a deterioration in the services balance.
- Primary exports provided a further boost to the merchandise trade balance in May and dairy export prices should strengthen in coming months.
- However forward-looking indicators of activity are mixed, and pose a downside risk to near term growth forecasts.
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The main NZD influence today has been the weekend trade truce agreement. This gave AUD and NZd a small boost at the opening trades but has since fully reversed and the currencies are both lower than late Friday.
