Rod Donald's Crystal Ball Needs A Clean

Trade and Tourism Minister Lockwood Smith will send Green's Co-leader Rod Donald a bottle of glass cleaner to clean his crystal ball, following Mr Donald's prediction that yesterday's trade statistics would "embarrass the Government".

Speaking from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia where he has been working on trade and tourism issues, Dr Smith said "estimates from the Government Statistician show that we can expect an increase in the trade surplus in March, and an improvement in New Zealand's export trend."

"Rod Donald has also predicted a trade deficit of over a billion dollars for the current year, but there's no rocket science behind this prediction. Figures released publicly in February 1999 showed a trade deficit of $835 million to the year ended December 1998, and we would not expect this to turn around quickly.

"But what Mr Donald didn't say is that this same report referred to one-off imports of large aircraft worth more than half a billion dollars which have impacted on the trade balance figures.

"I want to assure Mr Donald that I'm not embarrassed by yesterday's figures. The current trade deficit includes one-off purchases of large aircraft and a ship worth more than $600 million dollars. These are extraordinary purchases which have had a significant impact on the trade balance figures, and I'm encouraged by the statistician's projection that the exports trend is rising," said Dr Smith.