The low oil prices during the start of 2015 was not only good for a summer businesses, it was also good for the country's balance of payments, Statistics NZ is reporting.

Cheap petrol isn't just good for drivers' pockets

"Imports of petroleum products fell to their lowest value in just over nine years, as prices plummeted in the latest quarter, to their lowest level in over a decade," says international statistics manager Jason Attewell.

It helped lower New Zealand's seasonally adjusted current account deficit to $1.8 billion.

Quantities of petroleum product imports also fell significantly in the March 2015 quarter, but shipments of petroleum product imports can be quite volatile on a quarterly basis.

The latest quarter's $0.8 billion decrease in the seasonally adjusted current account is mainly due to a fall in imports of goods, combined with a fall in dividends paid to overseas portfolio shareholders. A current account deficit means that New Zealand's overseas expenditure exceeds earnings.

New Zealand's annual current account deficit is $8.6 billion (3.6 percent of GDP) for the year ending March 2015. This compares with a deficit of $7.8 billion (3.3 percent of GDP) for the calendar year ending December 2014. The larger annual current account balance is mainly due to a fall in exports of goods, driven by falling dairy prices over the past year.

"Increased spending by overseas visitors in New Zealand, our second-largest source of export revenue, partly offset the fall in exports of dairy products over the past year," says Jason.

New Zealand's international liability position is $153.5 billion (64.2 percent of GDP) as of March 31 2015, $1.1 billion less than the position at December 31 2014.

New Zealand's external debt position, which shows the difference between overseas lending and borrowing, decreased $2.0 billion to $138.9 billion (58.1 percent of GDP) between 31 December 2014 and 31 March 2015. An increase in reserve assets held overseas is partly offset by overseas investors purchasing debt securities issued by the banking sector in the March 2015 quarter.