New Zealand’s Current Account Balance improved from -NZ$4.026 billion to -NZ$1.247 billion in Q1 of 2009, which brings the current account-GDP ratio to -8.5% from -8.9%. The move comes after imports plummeted 21.9% from the month prior. Ladder period may show this metric to actually widen. April saw the Retail Sales substantially surprise to the upside, rising 0.5% after having declined -0.4% in March. Spending, combined with a New Zealand Dollar that rose10.71% on a trade weighted basis in March, may lead imports to increase in the coming months.