Thursday, April 28, 2005
The recent string of gloomy domestic economic data is continuing, with the March trade balance coming in substantially worse than expected on falling export receipts and rising imports of consumer goods. Statistics New Zealand today estimated the trade balance for March was a deficit of $192 million. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a $50 million surplus. It's only the second time in 10 years there has been a March deficit. This is not good. Everybody acknowledges we are riding a bubble, but no-one wants to talk about what happens when it lets us down.
