The Australian economy benefited from a larger-than-expected rise in exports during the first three months of 2013.

The current account deficit narrowed to $8.051 billion in the March quarter, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The ABS said the trade surplus rose in the quarter, which would add 1.0 per cent to gross domestic product growth (GDP) over the period.

CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy said there was a surprisingly large rise in exports in the three-month period.

“That’s a bit of a surprise given the other weak economic data we saw in the quarter,” he said.

He said the rise in exports came despite the relatively high value of the Australian dollar.

But, he said, the figures may have been boosted by a rebound in commodity prices during the quarter.

RBC senior economist Su-Lin Ong was not surprised by the figures.

“We know from the monthly trade data a pretty reasonable current account improvement in the first quarter was always on the cards,” she said.

“Net exports are going to contribute more to growth, so that’s reasonably encouraging.

“It’s consistent with a potential peak in investment and capital goods imports and imports in the quarter.”

Ms Ong said the figures won’t change the outlook for the release of March quarter gross domestic product figures on Wednesday, which is expected to come in a 0.8 per cent.

She said that growth in the June quarter might be weaker which would keep another central bank rate cut this year on the table.

The ABS will release GDP figures for the March quarter on Wednesday.