WELLINGTON -New Zealand's business confidence in the first quarter weakened as businesses face a range of headwinds including uncertainty over the new government’s priorities, a private think tank said on Tuesday.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, 24% expected business conditions to worsen, versus 10% pessimism recorded in the previous period. The survey's measure of capacity utilisation fell to 90.2%, from the previous quarter's 91.4%. “Weakened demand across the sectors led firms to reduce staff numbers in the first quarter of 2024, with caution about hiring and investment for the months ahead,” NZIER said in its report.
This will be positive news for the central bank, which has battling historically high levels of inflation and in February indicated the potential for a further rate hike if it felt inflation pressures were not easing. However, the central bank is expected to hold the cash rate at 5.5% when it meets on Wednesday.
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