New Zealand ANZ business survey for March, preliminary

Business Confidence drops to zero

  • prior 7.0

Activity Outlook 17.4

  • prior 21.3

(In brief) ANZ commentary:

  • preliminary ANZ Business Outlook data for March was a mixed bag
  • employment intentions up 5 points
  • capacity utilisation up 2 points
  • Investment intentions were little changed
  • Expected costs rose 2 points to a net 74% expecting higher costs ahead
  • Firms are intending to pass the costs on where possible, with a net 49% of firms intending to raise their prices, up 3%pts.
  • inflation expectations lifted too, from 1.76% to 1.95%, pretty much at the 2% RBNZ CPI target midpoint