Optimism rising for New Zealand economy

New Zealand: Optimism that New Zealand's economy will improve is at its highest level in five and a half years, according to a monthly business confidence survey conducted by the Bank of New Zealand (BNZ).

A total of 57 percent of the 25,000 respondents expected the economy would be better in a year, the highest figure since the survey began, said the bank. The figure was up from 42 percent in May, with June being the third consecutive month of improvement.

BNZ chief economist Tony Alexander said in the findings that sentiment was overwhelmingly positive in agriculture, and improving in sectors such as accountancy and non-residential real estate.

However, the overall tone of anecdotes remained "very cautious, " he said. One theme emerging in comments was an expectation of stronger activity related to the rebuilding of Christchurch, which was devastated by an earthquake that left at least 181 people dead on Feb. 22. Another was hope regarding the boost to come from the Rugby World Cup, which kicks off in New Zealand in September.

"The survey results suggest it remains reasonable for businesspeople in New Zealand to plan (generally) for better times ahead," said the report.

However it warned, "Soaring optimism is not a sufficient condition for strong growth. After all, the strong lift in early September 2008 came right before the global financial crisis, and last year's firm confidence up until June did not correlate with the fact that during that quarter the economy almost shrank." WEllington, Tuesday, Xinhua