New Zealand ANZ Business Confidence dropped slightly from -38.0 to -37.5 in April. Agriculture has the least confidence at -62.9 while manufacturing at -25.8 was already the best. Activity Outlook improved from 6.3 to 7.1. Agriculture outlook was the best at 20.0 while retail was worst at -7.5.
ANZ noted that the economy is “experiencing a soft patch that is proving reasonably long-lasting”. Steadily declining GDP is expected to continue to middle of this year. However, , easier monetary conditions and policy certainty should see momentum recover, assuming the global outlook continues to improve.
Also, “cost pressures are expected to dissipate as capacity pressures wane, reducing the pressure on firms’ profitability.” ANZ expects RBNZ to cut the OCR, starting in August, to support growth in inflation.
