The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) announced on Thursday that Australia’s trade surplus in seasonally adjusted terms narrowed to AUD7.268 billion in July from a downwardly revised AUD7.977-billion surplus in June (initially a surplus of AUD8.036 billion).

Economists had expected a surplus of AUD7.400 billion.

According to the report, the exports increased 0.6 m-o-m in July, after jumping 1.4 percent m-o-m in June. Meanwhile, imports rose 2.9 percent m-o-m in July, following a 3.5 percent m-o-m drop in the prior month.