(Adds market reaction, details) WELLINGTON, March 15 (Reuters)...

(Adds market reaction, details)

WELLINGTON, March 15 (Reuters) - New Zealand posted its smallest current account deficit in more than two years, according to data released on Wednesday, as surging tourism and reinsurance claims from a deadly November earthquake pour into the country.

The result beat analysts expectations and would likely please the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, which meets next week to decide the official cash rate.

Still, the central bank is unlikely to waver on its determination to keep rates at a record low of 1.75 percent as it focusses on increasing inflation.

The seasonally adjusted quarterly deficit was NZ$1.599 billion, down from NZ$2.019 billion in the previous quarter and the lowest since March 2014.

The annual deficit to December was NZ$7.112 billion, equaling 2.7 percent of gross domestic product, compared with 3 percent the previous quarter.

Analysts had been expecting the deficit to account for 2.8 percent of GDP.

The actual quarterly deficit was NZ$2.335 billion in the three months to December, from a deficit of NZ$5.029 billion in the previous quarter, according to Statistics New Zealand.

Statistics New Zealand said in a statement that the number of tourists and the amount they spent was strong in December, meaning service spending grew to a $1.2 billion surplus, $174 million larger than the previous quarter.

Overseas reinsurance claims following a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the South Island town of Kaikoura and damaged buildings in the capital, Wellington, also helped boost funds entering the country, the statistics agency said.

The New Zealand dollar was largely unchanged, trading around $0.6923 as investors were holding tight until a U.S. Federal Reserve decision and local gross domestic product data due out tomorrow.

The first quarter current account data will be released on June 14, 2017.