Australia’s trade surplus increased notably in April as exports increased amid falling imports, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported Thursday.
The trade surplus increased to A$8.02 billion from A$5.79 billion in March. This was above the economists’ forecast of A$7.9 billion.
Exports grew 3 percent to A$39.77 billion, while imports fell 3 percent to A$31.74 billion.
As the increase in the trade surplus was largely driven by higher commodity prices, export volumes will need to recover further in the months ahead to prevent trade from being a drag on GDP growth yet again in the second quarter, Ben Udy, an economist at Capital Economics, said.
Another report from the statistical office showed that retail sales grew 1.1 percent on a monthly basis, as initially estimated, in April, following a 1.3 percent rise in March.
On a yearly basis, retail turnover surged 25 percent in April.
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