New Zealand: Business sentiment jumps again in November on elections honeymoon
The ANZ bank business outlook indicator surged in November, benefiting from the result of 14 October elections for the second consecutive month. A net 30.8% of firms reported that they expect general business conditions to improve in the year ahead, improving from a net 23.4% of firms expecting better general business conditions in the year ahead in October. As a result, the headline moved further above the net-0% threshold that separates optimism from pessimism among businesses.
Businesses grew more upbeat with regards to profit expectations and capacity utilization. Moreover, export and investment intentions improved considerably.
Meanwhile, firms’ outlooks regarding their own activity—a metric which has a stronger correlation to GDP growth—jumped to a net 26.3% in November from a net 23.1% in October.
Commenting on the release, Sharon Zollner, chief economist at ANZ, stated:
“We’d characterise this month’s Business Outlook survey as corroborating the narrative that the soft landing is in play, but that the question of whether the slowdown will be sufficient to bring inflation all the way back to target in an acceptable time frame remains an open question.”