(Adds details from NZIER)
By Lucy Craymer
WELLINGTON, April 4 (Reuters) - New Zealand's business
confidence in the first quarter showed some positive
developments with both business confidence and firms' own
trading activity recovering slightly, a private think tank said
on Tuesday.
A net 66% of firms surveyed expected general business
conditions to deteriorate compared with 70% pessimism in the
previous quarter, the New Zealand Institute of Economic
Research's (NZIER) quarterly survey of business opinion (QSBO)
showed.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, 61% expected business
conditions to worsen, versus 74% pessimism recorded in the
previous period. The survey's measure of capacity utilisation
rose to 94.0%, from the previous quarter's 93.7%.
NZIER said there are signs of capacity pressures easing in
the New Zealand economy as demand continued to soften in the
first quarter of 2023.
“The tightening in monetary policy by the Reserve Bank since
November 2021 looks to be gaining traction in dampening demand
in the economy,” it said.
Builders were most downbeat in the March quarter. This
reflects a continued weakening in demand, with more building
sector firms reporting a decline in new orders and output, NZIER
said in its report.
(Reporting by Lucy Craymer in Wellington
Editing by Leslie Adler and Matthew Lewis)
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