Wellington, Sept 6 NZPA - Statistics New Zealand is delaying the release of a number of its statistical releases this week because two of its offices in Christchurch are currently closed due to the earthquake at the weekend.

But at this stage its hopes to release the Gross Domestic Product and Balance of Payments reports later this month as expected.

The Economic Survey of Manufacturing for the June quarter and value of building work in place for June are deferred until further notice. They were due to be released on Wednesday.

Electronic card transactions data for August is also deferred from its release date of Thursday. The Accommodation Survey for July, due on Friday, is deferred until further notice.

The Wholesale Trade Survey for the June quarter will be released as scheduled tomorrow and the Overseas Trade Index (volumes) and Overseas Trade Index (prices) will both be released as scheduled on Friday.