NZ: Business confidence to be driven by positive sentiment into Q2 - Westpac

The research team at Westpac notes that the NZ’s business confidence declined in March but activity indicators showed that firms remained upbeat in terms of their own economic prospects, which is indicative of the strong growth potential in 2017.

Key Quotes

“We’d expect this positive sentiment to continue into Q2. Export intentions demonstrated the greatest jump in optimism from February to March. Last month sentiment around construction pulled back, so we’ll be watching to see whether this is sustained.”

“Annual inflation jumped to 2.2% in Q1, the first time since 2011 that inflation has been above 2%. The rise was driven by food and fuel price inflation, which are expected to be transitory. In light of this, the survey’s pricing gauges will give an indication of the underlying inflation pulse in the economy and firms’ willingness to raise prices going forward.”