According to ANZ Bank's business outlook survey, in New Zealand business confidence slips down a little bit from the level of 20-year high yet it remains high during March. With the confidence level on all major sub-sectors at more than 50%, there is surely a sign for positive economic expansion.
Business confidence index is the percentage of speculations of positive business condition versus negative business condition. The chart displays a drop down of net confidence level from 70.8 in Feb to 67.3 in March.
This decrease in the confidence level is due to the decision by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to increase the interest rates in order to reduce the pressures of inflation on the economy. Investment intentions fell to 30.7% from 35.2%.
