Home ›› 06 Oct 2021 ›› World Biz
New Zealand business confidence dropped in the third quarter as the latest Covid-19 lockdown in the country hurt sentiment, a private think tank said on Tuesday.
A net 11 per cent of firms surveyed expected general business conditions to deteriorate, compared with a net 7.0 per cent positive reading in the previous quarter, the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research’s (NZIER) quarterly survey of business opinion (QSBO) showed.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, 8 per cent expected business conditions to worsen, versus 9.0 per cent expecting an improvement in the previous period. The survey’s measure of capacity utilisation was 96.1 per cent, from the previous quarter’s 94.9 per cent.
Demand was still holding up, but the negative impact of the current Covid-19 community outbreak had affected business confidence, NZIER said in its report.