New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern comments in a pre-budget speech in Wellington
- Business confidence decline reflects assumptions about her Labour-led government
- Data such as jobless rate and analysis by IMF suggest the economy is in good shape
- Economic growth set to remain strong, averaging 3%
- Unemployment is forecast to fall to government's 4% target
- Wages are forecast to rise on average by more than 3% a year
- Business can be confident in this government
Business confidence in the country hasn't been faring too well since Ardern came into office. She was appointed leader of the labour party back in August 2017, and businesses remain skeptical about the economy still - as reflected in the figures earlier this week (still well below 0.0):
