New Zealand’s business confidence sinks in Q3
Business confidence in New Zealand declined in the third quarter. The drop was attributed to the country’s latest COVID-19 lockdowns’ blow on sentiment.
The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research’s (NZIER) quarterly survey of business opinion (QSBO) highlighted a net 11% of firms surveyed expecting general business conditions to worsen. It followed a net 7.0% positive reading in the previous quarter.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, 8% expected business conditions to deteriorate, an almost stark contrast to the 9.0% projection of progress from the previous quarter. The survey’s measure of capacity utilization was 96.1% from 94.9% in the preceding period.
On the other hand, demand showed resilience from the impact of the latest COVID-19 community outbreak.
Auckland, New Zealand’s biggest city, remains in lockdown since the Delta COVID-19 variant hit in mid-August. Some pandemic regulations will be lifted on Wednesday.
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