Australia's trade surplus hits two-and-a-half-year high

Australia posted a trade surplus of 1.4 billion AU dollars (1.26 billion U.S. dollars) in January, the biggest since August 2011, figures released Thursday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show. The balance on goods and services was a surplus of 1,433 million AU dollars (1,293 million U.S. dollars) in January 2014, an increase of 842 million AU dollars (759 million U.S. dollars) or 142 percent on the surplus in December 2013, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported. Economists'forecasts had centered on a deficit of 100 million AU dollars (90.2 million U.S. dollars) for the month. In January, exports of goods and services rose by 4 percent to 29,759 million AU dollars (26,843 million U.S. dollars), while imports of goods and services were up by 1 percent to 28,327 million AU dollars (25,551 million U.S. dollars), the ABS said.