Australia Trade Surplus Declines

(RTTNews) - Australia's trade surplus declined in January due to the fall in exports, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported Thursday.

The trade surplus fell to A$2.63 billion from A$3.37 billion in December. In the same period last year, the surplus totaled A$4.55 billion.

Exports of goods decreased 0.9 percent from the prior month. Net exports of goods under merchanting plunged 14.3 percent and general merchandise dropped 2.3 percent.

Meanwhile, imports increased 0.8 percent in January driven by the 46.8 percent surge in non-monetary gold imports.