NZ: Business confidence down slightly in July – Westpac

Michael Gordon, Research Analyst at Westpac, explains that the NZ business confidence fell slightly in July, after some modest gains in the two previous months and is consistent with the recent pace of economic growth, but waning confidence in the construction sector bears watching.

Key Quotes

“Overall confidence has been moving within a fairly narrow range for the last year, with no clear trend.”

“However, the differences across industries are more apparent. Confidence in the agricultural sector has rebounded over the last year as dairy prices have recovered. However, confidence has fallen significantly in the construction sector in recent months, despite the large amount of work underway.”

“Pricing intentions fell from a three-year high in July, and expectations of inflation for the year ahead were slightly lower. The responses to the July survey will have largely preceded the latest CPI release, which saw a larger than expected drop in annual inflation from 2.2% to 1.7%.”