New Zealand business confidence down due to high costs, interest rates

NEW Zealand’s business confidence continued to worsen in the second quarter of this year as companies grappled with increased costs and higher interest rates, a private think tank said on Tuesday.

A net 65 per cent of firms surveyed expected general business conditions to deteriorate compared with 40 per cent pessimism in the previous quarter, the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research’s (NZIER) quarterly survey of business opinion (QSBO) showed.

It added that business confidence is now at its lowest level since the first quarter of 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic was declared. REUTERS