NZ dollar rises on better-than-expected govt surplus

Tue, 08 Oct 2019

The New Zealand dollar clawed its way back over the 63 US cent mark after the government's larger-than-expected budget surplus cheered investors. The kiwi was trading at 63.14 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 62.89 at 8am while the trade-weighted index was at 70.45 points from 70.25. The government posted an operating surplus before valuation gains and losses of $7.5 billion for the 12 months ended June, well above the $3.5 billion surplus predicted in the 2019 budget forecasts. "It was a very nice budget surplus," says Tim Kelleher,...

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