Higher oil costs drive record monthly trade deficit

Wed, 24 Oct 2018

By Rebecca Howard Oct. 25 (BusinessDesk) - Fuel and crude oil imports drove the largest-ever monthly goods trade deficit in September and the widest annual deficit in more than nine years. The September deficit was $1.6 billion, Statistics New Zealand said. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected a deficit of $1.4 billion. The annual deficit was $5.2 billion versus an expected $5 billion. It was the widest annual deficit since January 2009. September imports rose 19 percent to $5.9 billion, the highest value for total imports o...

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