The New Zealand economy recorded a growth in the first quarter of this year ending in March by 1.6 percent, according to data released today, Thursday, after it recorded a decline of about 1% in the fourth quarter of last year, exceeding expectations that it would record a growth of about 0.5 percent. This rise in New Zealand’s GDP growth came after it witnessed an improvement in the service industries sector, which constitutes about two-thirds of the economy by about 1.1%, while the commodity-producing industries sector, which constitutes about a fifth of the economy, increased by 2.4%, and the primary industries sector, which represented the equivalent of 7% of the economy, increased by 2.4%. The economy increased by about 0.3%, while the unallocated taxes, which include the goods and services tax and import duties, which constitute the rest of the economy, increased by about 7.2%, bringing the per capita GDP by about 1.5%. The New Zealand dollar is trading on a decline against the US dollar at levels of 0.7050 at the beginning of the European session, affected by the gains of the US dollar, after it tested the levels of 0.7097 when the statement was announced in the Asian session.