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Home / Business / Companies / Tourism

Tourism boom pushes current account into surplus

By Jonathan Underhill
BusinessDesk·
15 Jun, 2016 12:10 AM2 mins to read

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There was a 13 percent jump in international guest nights last month, as the surge in tourism continues through to the winter months. Photo / Mark Mitchell

There was a 13 percent jump in international guest nights last month, as the surge in tourism continues through to the winter months. Photo / Mark Mitchell

New Zealand's current account balance turned to a surplus in the first quarter as tourism drove up the services balance and foreigners earned less from their local investments.

The current account surplus was $1.3 billion in the first quarter, from a deficit of $2.89 billion a year earlier, Statistics New Zealand said. The figures aren't seasonally adjusted.

The goods balance turned to a surplus of $606 million from a deficit of $1.37 billion as imports fell faster than exports.

The services balance was a surplus of $2.8 billion from a surplus of $847 million three months earlier, while the primary income balance, which mainly reflects investment income, was a deficit of $1.7 billion, narrower than the $2.3 billion gap recorded in the fourth quarter of 2015.

In the year, the current account deficit was $7.5 billion, or 3 percent of gross domestic product, from a revised deficit of $8 billion, or 3.2 percent of GDP, in calendar 2015. Statistics New Zealand said. The improvement was driven by an increase in the services surplus and a decrease in the primary income deficit, it said.

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"An increase in spending by international visitors to New Zealand drove the increase in the services surplus in the latest year," the government statistician said. "Spending by international visitors increased $2.2 billion in the year ended March 2016, to reach a record annual high in spending" of $13.3 billion, it said.

There was a $1.5 billion net inflow of investment in the first quarter as transactions of $4.3 billion increased New Zealand's international liabilities and transactions of $2.8 billion increased the nation's international assets.

New Zealand's net international liability position was $157 billion, or 63.1 percent of GDP at March 31, up from $151.9 billion, or 61.8 percent of GDP, at Dec. 31 and the largest net liability position since March 2009. Still, as a percentage of GDP, it was higher at March 31 last year at 63.5 percent.

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The nation's net external debt position rose to $139.3 billion, or 56 percent of GDP as at March 31, up from $136.5 billion, or 55.5 percent of GDP three months earlier, the first increase since the fourth quarter of 2012.

See the full release from Stats NZ here:

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