WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand's current account deficit narrowed in the second quarter as tourists poured in for high-profile international sports events.
Statistics New Zealand said the quarterly surplus was NZ$618 million ($452.31 million) in the three months to June, dwarfing the previous quarter's NZ$221 million, with tourism driving a record-high service sector surplus of NZ$1.3 billion.
Foreign sports fans travelling to New Zealand for the World Masters Games held in April and a tour by the British and Irish Lions rugby team in June provided a windfall as visitors splashed out on accommodation, food and drinks.
The tourism boom is also expected to boost gross domestic product in the second quarter. GDP figures are due on Thursday.
The annual current account deficit was NZ$7.49 billion or 2.8 percent of gross domestic product, down from 3.1 percent the previous quarter, the statistics agency said.
Wednesday's current account data had little impact on the New Zealand dollar, which was already trading up 0.7 percent at around $0.7320, thanks to a strong overnight auction for dairy - the country's largest goods export.
($1 = 1.3663 New Zealand dollars)
(Reporting by Charlotte Greenfield; Edting by Eric Meijer)
