WELLINGTON: New Zealand business confidence has pushed higher in February +34.4% while in December+30.4% with firms’ own activity expectations, employment and investment intentions all robust.
“In cricketing parlance, New Zealand’s innings is progressing nicely; there are runs on the board – the economy is into the fifth year of an economic expansion with depth down the order,” said ANZ Bank Chief Economist Cameron Bagrie. A net 34.4% of respondents in the monthly survey expected business conditions to improve over the next 12 months compared with a net 30.4% who had expected an improvement in the prior survey held in December. Net confidence is defined as the percentage of optimists minus the percentage of pessimists. A net 40.9% expected their own business activity to improve in the coming year versus 37.3% in December.
