The ANZ Business Confidence Index in New Zealand came in at -37.5 in April 2019, little-changed from -38.0 in a month earlier and compared with market estimates of -42.8. Inflation expectations were almost unchanged (2.04 vs 2.05 in March) and pricing intentions were relatively stable (26.7 vs 27.4). Meantime, cost pressures eased (46.6 vs 55.3), while profit expectations (-13.0 vs -14.4); activity outlook (7.1 vs 6.3); export intentions (1.5 vs 1.0); investment intentions (1.5 vs 0.9); and employment (4.3 vs 0.9) improved. Among sectors, agriculture was the most optimistic, while retail remained the least. Business Confidence in New Zealand averaged 4.80 percent from 1970 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 80.90 percent in February of 1994 and a record low of -76.40 percent in December of 1974.
Business Confidence in New Zealand is expected to be -38.00 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Business Confidence in New Zealand to stand at -25.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the New Zealand Business Confidence is projected to trend around 15.00 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.