WELLINGTON: Manufacturing has been growing for 30 months in a row, though the pace of expansion slowed in March, according to a bank survey. The manufacturing sector remained in “solid territory”, the latest Bank of New Zealand- Business NZ Performance of Manufacturing Index showed.
The index dipped 1.6 points in March to 54.5, but that was still seen as “healthy expansion mode”. An index above 50 suggests the sector is expanding and under 50 that it is going backwards.
While not as strong as February, BusinessNZ’s executive director for manufacturing Catherine Beard said activity remained healthy. Of those surveyed, 60 per cent made positive comments and 40 per cent negative.
Some of those negative comments reflected the high New Zealand dollar, especially against the Australian currency.
The New Zealand dollar almost hit level pegging with the Australian dollar this month, and is trading at A98.8c today, close to a 40-year high.Australia is a key market for manufactured exports.
BNZ senior economist Craig Ebert said both the PMI and NZIER’s Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion (QSBO) out earlier this week showed manufacturing was still in relatively good heart.
Confidence in manufacturing was up, building intentions reached their highest level ever in the QSBO, and plant and machinery intentions reached their highest level since September 1994.
