NZ economy stalls
A new survey conducted in New Zealand has predicted gloomy times ahead the Shaky Isles economy. 66 per cent of firms surveyed expect general business conditions to deteriorate over the next year – the lowest level of business confidence since the sharemarket crash in the late 1980s.
“This level of confidence is indicative of an economy at a stand still and forewarns there could be a negative GDP outturn in the last quarter of 2005 or the first quarter of 2006,” ANZ National Bank chief economist John McDermot said.
Finance Minister Michael Cullen said the fall in business confidence was no surprise given the sensitivity to official interest rates, which are at their highest level since the official cash rate was introduced in 1999.
This news co-incided with Staistics NZ figures which showed there were 176,200 short-term overseas visitor arrivals to New Zealand in October 2005, down 5,200 (3 per cent) from October 2004.
Statistics NZ said seasonally adjusted monthly visitor arrivals were also down 3 per cent in October 2005, following a rise of 2 per cent a month earlier.
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