Businesses should feel better about the economy and align their perceptions with the positive reality says Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Delivering the now traditional pre-Budget speech to the Business New Zealand audience, Ardern said business confidence was “the elephant in the room”.

Business confidence has been low since the Government took office. One of the leading business confidence surveys conducted by NZIER found businesses had turned pessimistic about economic outlook for the first time in two years after Labour assumed office.

On Monday ANZ’s monthly business confidence survey reported pessimism grew in April. 23 percent of businesses were pessimistic about the economy, up from 20 percent in March.

Ardern said businesses should look at other metrics of confidence in the economy, which have been positive.

“The IMF, following its annual visit this month, said New Zealand has a favourable outlook with strong annual economic activity expected and our fiscal, monetary and prudential policy settings are appropriate,” Ardern said. She also noted the ratings agencies had given positive reviews of the Government’s performance and of New Zealand's growth prospects.

Continue to the full article on Newsroom  ||  May 04, 2018   |||

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