Despite a record-high trade surplus, a leading economist warns although exports are strong the fall in imports is concerning.

The positive international monthly trade results produced a surplus of $8.04 billion, with the value of exports reaching 1.4 per cent for the month but import values falling by 3.6 per cent.

National Australia Bank Chief Economist Alan Oster tells Ross Greenwood the results are not the sign of a flourishing economy.

“One of the slight things you have to be a little bit worried about is, sure exports are really strong in terms of their value but imports fell four per cent and that’s not normally a sign of an economy that’s sort of doing really well.

“I’d be a little bit more careful about saying this is a sign that the Australian economy’s great, it’s not.”

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