New Zealand business confidence unchanged in September: survey

[SYDNEY] New Zealand’s business confidence was unchanged in September though firms expect better business conditions ahead despite a sluggish economy, an ANZ Bank survey showed on Tuesday.

A net 49.6 per cent of respondents expected the economy to improve over the year ahead, versus a 49.7 per cent optimism level in August, while 43.4 per cent expected their own businesses to grow, versus 38.7 per cent, the highest in five months.

“It’s been a rough few years. To some extent, that was inevitable after the extreme overheating of the Covid era, but the weakness has dragged on longer than expected, and the costs are mounting,” ANZ chief economist Sharon Zollner said. REUTERS