Balance of Payments and International Investment Position: December 2009 quarter

Highlights

New Zealand’s seasonally adjusted current account deficit was $3,110 million in the December 2009 quarter, a turnaround from the September 2009 quarter surplus of $39 million.	For the year ended December 2009 the current account deficit was 2.9 percent of GDP, compared with 3.2 percent for the year ended September 2009.
The large turnaround was driven by an increase in the income earned from foreign investment in New Zealand.	Net international liabilities were $167.5 billion (90.3 percent of GDP) at 31 December 2009, $5.3 billion smaller than the 30 September 2009 position.



Geoff Bascand Government Statistician	24 March 2010 ISSN 1178-0215