New Zealand business confidence improves further in Q4: NZIER survey

[WELLINGTON] New Zealand business confidence showed further improvement in the fourth quarter as businesses held onto the recovery in sales seen in September, a private think tank said on Tuesday.

A net 6 per cent of firms surveyed expected general business conditions to deteriorate compared with 40 per cent expecting a slowdown in the previous quarter, the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research's (NZIER) quarterly survey of business opinion (QSBO) showed.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, a net 16 per cent of businesses expect a deterioration in general economic conditions over the coming months, lower than the 38 per cent in the previous quarter and well below the 68 per cent of businesses feeling pessimistic in March 2020.

The survey's measure of capacity utilisation was 95.1 per cent, from the previous quarter's 92.6 per cent.

REUTERS