Falling exports to Australia knock NZ balance of trade

Falling exports to Australia knock NZ balance of trade
By Paul McBeth Sept 26 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealand recorded a bigger-than-expected trade deficit in August, with petrol and machinery exports into Australia shrinking in the month. The trade deficit was $789 million in August from a revised surplus of $97 million a month earlier, according to Statistics New Zealand. That shortfall between exports and imports was wider than the $606 million forecast in a Reuters poll of economists. The annual deficit of $866 million was bigger than the expected $770 million. Exports fell 3.4 percent to $3....