New Zealand current account deficit hits record

New Zealand's widening current account deficit ballooned to 13.7 billion New Zealand dollars (8.5 billion US) last year, up 40 percent on end-2004, official figures showed Thursday.
The deficit for calendar 2005 was the equivalent of 8.9 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the worst ratio since 1986 and a record deficit in monetary terms.
The calendar 2004 deficit of 9.8 billion dollars amounted to 6.7 percent of GDP. The widening of the deficit was mainly due to a 2.1 billion dollar increase in imports together with a 1.4 billion increase in income earned here by foreign companies and repatriated.
The figures released by Statistics New Zealand are expected to put further downward pressure on the New Zealand dollar which has fallen 12 percent this year, dropping below 62 US cents for the first time in 21 months.