The ANZ Business Confidence Index declined to -38 in March 2019 from -31 in the previous month and compared to market expectations of -24. A net of 38 percent of respondents expect general business conditions to deteriorate in the year ahead. A net 1 percent of firms are expecting to lift investment, down 1 point; employment intentions declined 2 points to +1 percent; profit expectations decreased 3 points to -14 percent; a net 40 percent of businesses expect it to be tougher to get credit; and inflation expectations slowed to 2.05 from 2.06. Also, construction intentions dropped, residential construction intentions plummeted to the lowest level since 2009, led by Auckland and commercial intentions returned into negative territory (-4.5 from 4.3 in February). Meanwhile, pricing intentions rose 1 point to +27 percent. Business Confidence in New Zealand averaged 4.90 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 -27.00 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 -30.00 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.