The FINANCIAL — A slide in New Zealand business confidence was arrested in September. A net 18.9% of respondents in the ANZ Business Outlook survey expected business conditions to worsen over the next 12 months, compared with a net 29.1% in the August survey.
“The economy found a bungy cord attached,” said ANZ Bank Chief Economist Cameron Bagrie. “It’s still a negative zip- line though, with a net 19% of businesses pessimistic about the general economy.”
Net confidence is defined as the percentage of optimists minus the percentage of pessimists. A net 16.7% expected their own business activity to improve in the coming year, versus 12.2% in the prior survey, according to Nasdaq.
An uptick in agriculture sentiment and solid gains in construction and manufacturing led the improvement.