New Zealand: Business confidence improves in August
Business confidence came in at 50.6 in August, up notably from July’s 27.1. August’s result marked the strongest since May 2014. Firms grew more upbeat about their future activity, investment, employment intentions, profits and access to credit. Greater optimism was likely linked to the start of the Central Bank’s easing cycle in August.
That said, reported past activity—which has the strongest correlation with GDP—was still highly pessimistic, suggesting the economy is still expanding at a muted pace in Q3, as our panelists predict.