Consumer confidence tumbled this month and inflation expectations surged, according to the latest ANZ-Roy Morgan NZ Consumer Confidence Survey.
The survey shows consumer confidence down to 91.3 in March from 100.1 in February.
Two-year ahead inflation expectations jumped one percentage point to 5.7%.
And the proportion of households thinking it’s a good time to buy a major household item dropped 10 points to -14, where it was in October.
"The conflict in the Middle East has created significant uncertainty for the economic outlook and is hitting people in the back pocket already. Confidence impacts are likely to exacerbate the impact on growth, but it is entirely reasonable that both firms and households think twice when making spending decisions in case things take a marked turn for the worse. The sharp rise in inflation expectations is also unsurprising. This is a challenging time for many," the survey says.
The full report is here.
11 Comments
B Deck stewards' survey, re will you be playing deck-quoits tomorrow?
Meanwhile down on the farm - how will NZ feed itself?
I don't think the economy was looking too flash before this happened, the green shoots weren't really materialising.
At what stage do the blue voters blame the current government and not the previous one?
National thought they could grow the economy by slashing spending and giving unaffordable tax cuts. Really what they should have done is addressed some of our infrastructure deficit and reduced our reliance on foreign fuel. That investment would have increased GDP instead of decreasing it and decreased unemployment / handouts instead of increasing it. And because debt is a ratio to GDP, its probable our debt level would be very similar to now.
Not that Chippy would have been much better, all he could go on about was the cost of living. Again best way to fix that was to increase wages, the RBNZ already had inflation tracking down before the election.
There seems to be no party that wants to invest in NZ, that seems ridiculous. Surely an "Investment" or "Infrastructure" party would be an instant win, probably hold the balance of power. I'd certainly vote for them (PDK not so much).
"Surely an "Investment" or "Infrastructure" party would be an instant win, probably hold the balance of power. "
It could be assuming the investment was in the wise things. A strategy that seeks to provide the needed, is as low maintenance as possible and uses predominately local sourced inputs would be best but is a big ask and would require massive structural change that would be unpopular with many vested interests. .....if it is simply more of the same then it may be popular and unwise.
"Surely an "Investment" or "Infrastructure" party would be an instant win"
I think that, sadly, you overestimate the knowledge of the average voter
In this case it probably only needs 5% of voters. It could be the one constant in politics, while the red and blue team are chopping and changing, the infrastructure party is constantly advocating for more investment and smart investment. Politically neutral and prepared to work with either party but without any idealism
You have basically described the TOP party. Funny how all the people who vote for them are "wasting their votes" right? Intergenerational Infrastructure - The Opportunity Party
The real wasted vote is voting for the same thing and expecting something different.
TOP party have a lot of other things going on.
So lets be clear, you want a party that is just like TOP (politically neutral, no idealism), that has a TOP like infra policy, but no other policies. And you want them to win 5% based off a single policy.
Maybe don't let perfect be the enemy of good?
they can just wing the rest like Labour intend to
Why am I not surprised at this report?
I find it reassuring to hear that businesses and individuals seem to be leaning more towards recognising the importance of individual responsibility for choices/decisions, rather than government will rescue.
I was underwhelmed by the slogan "survive to '25" as if miraculously against all indicators, NZ would return to the hedonistic times of previously.
Just a simple look into the state of NZ balance of payments shows the country has been living beyond it's means. Just as individuals painfully discover that debt to support a chosen lifestyle can end painfully, so for the country.
Without radical expansion and diversification of export revenue generation coupled with closing loopholes to retain more of the revenue from foreign owned companies within NZ, we are predictably sliding toward bankruptcy as a nation.
Yes, government can prioritise investment in infrastructure that redresses years of neglect in water and waste water, roading, etc. But unless that is matched to productivity enhancing investment, as an economy we wont really improve - just a few jobs during construction, cleaner water ways and estuaries, and shorter travel times.
What needs to be prioritised is investment in electricity generation to a significant generation surplus state. To bring significantly lower electricity costs for industry to support further processing within NZ.
It has been achieved in the past, and can be achieved again.
I remember watching it being built, Lou.
The Plainsmen ~ The Ballad of the Waitaki #Plainsmen #BalladofWaitaki #stringer #LexSinclair
All using fossil energy.
Never been done without.
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