New Zealand posted a merchandise trade deficit of NZ$1.273 billion in March, Statistics New Zealand said on Wednesday.
That missed expectations for a shortfall of NZ$920 million following the downwardly revised NZ$796 million deficit in February (originally -NZ$714 million).
Exports were up 0.6% on year to NZ$6.51 billion, beating forecasts for a gains of NZ$6.10 billion and up from the downwardly revised NZ$5.06 billion in the previous month (originally NZ$5.23 billion).
Imports jumped an annual 10 percent to NZ$7.78 billion versus expectations for NZ$6.80 billion following the downwardly revised NZ$5.86 billion a month earlier (originally NZ$5.95 billion).
