Wellington, Dec 1 (IANS) New Zealand’s terms of trade, the purchasing power of its exports against the value of imports, fell in the September quarter after hitting a 37-year high in the quarter ending June, mainly due to the high value of the NZ dollar, the government statistics agency announced Thursday.
The country’s merchandise terms of trade fell 0.7 percent in the September quarter due to export prices falling by four percent more than import prices, which were down 3.4 percent, said a statement from Statistics New Zealand.
The fall followed seven consecutive rises, including 2.4 percent in the June quarter and 0.8 percent in the March quarter, said Xinhua.
The fall in the September quarter meant the 0.7 percent fewer merchandise imports could be funded by a fixed quantity of exports compared with the June quarter.
‘In the June 2011 quarter, the terms of trade was at the highest level since the March 1974 quarter,’ said the statement.
In the year to the September quarter, the terms of trade rose 3.3 percent, compared with an 18-percent increase in the year to the September 2010 quarter, and a 14-percent decrease in the year to the September 2009 quarter.
Meanwhile, import volumes rose by 2.7 percent to their highest level in more than two years in the September quarter, mainly due to capital goods such as plant and machinery, according to Statistics New Zealand.
‘Import volumes are at their second-highest level since the series began in 1990. Imports are now 1.8 percent below the peak in the June 2008 quarter,’ industry and labor statistics manager Neil Kelly said in a statement.
