The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion (QSBO)
Very brief summary points:
- A net 11 percent of businesses expect a worsening in general economic conditions over the coming months, on a seasonally adjusted basis. This is a modest improvement from the 16 percent of businesses which were pessimistic about the economic outlook in the previous quarter.
- firms' own trading activity was unchanged from the previous quarter. This measure suggests annual GDP growth will track around 2 percent in the March 2021 quarter.
- Supply chain disruptions are contributing to the intense cost pressures across most sectors. However, firms are also finding it easier to pass on higher costs by raising prices.
- A net 8 percent of firms raised prices in the March quarter - a turnaround from the net 2 percent which cut prices in the previous quarter.
- Despite some uncertainty about the economic outlook, firms are continuing to plan for an increase in staff numbers and investment. A net 8 percent of firms increased staff numbers in the March quarter, and a net 18 percent plan to hire in the next quarter.
- Firms are also feeling more confident about investment, particularly in plant and machinery.
The full report is gated to NZIER subscribers only, but the organisation do provide a media release that contains more detail than the summary above
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Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion
- Each quarter we ask around 4,300 firms about whether business conditions will deteriorate, stay the same, or improve. The responses yield information about business trends much faster than official statistics and act as valuable leading indicators about the future state of the New Zealand economy.
