New Zealand ANZ business confidence declined from -57.1 to -70.2 in December, a new record low. Looking at some details, own activity outlook fell from -13.7 to -25.6. Export intentions dropped form -5.4 to -10.0. Investment intentions dropped form -8.1 to -20.5. Employment intentions dropped from -4.0 to -16.3. Pricing intentions rose from 58.5 to 59.1. Cost expectations declined form 88.7 to 84.4. Inflation expectations dropped from 6.39 to 6.23.
ANZ said: “The fall in business confidence is certainly dramatic, but while it’s at a fresh record low, it would be incorrect to read this as an indication that any recession is likely to be unusually severe. Rather, it’s unusually widely anticipated. It’s a situation unprecedented in recent decades for a central bank to admit it is deliberately engineering a recession.”
