Dr Lockwood Smith National Trade Spokesperson

26 September 2002

Cullen's economic tail wind slowing

National's Trade spokesperson, Lockwood Smith, says the trade deficit for August announced today is one of the biggest in the last decade.

Statistics New Zealand has reported that imports exceeded exports by $542 million in the month of August.

"What is of major concern is that the emerging trend of declining exports and rising imports indicates that this latest result is no one-off blip.

"The tail wind that has made Dr Cullen look good these last three years is slowing down. Export income over the next 12 months is likely to be down by well over $2 billion," says Dr Smith

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