NZ: Economy has lost some of its momentum - Westpac

Today’s figures reinforced that the New Zealand economy has lost some of its momentum in recent times as GDP rose by 0.5% in the March quarter, following gains of 0.6% in each of the previous two quarters, explains Michael Gordon, Senior Economist at Westpac.

Key Quotes

“There were some minor revisions to history that nudged the annual growth rate down to 2.7% after rounding.”

“Growth was widespread across industries, but modest in most cases.”

“The economy has lost some momentum as firms take a cautious approach to the new Government and as the housing market has cooled.”

“Softer growth in the near term provides some caution about the scope for additional fiscal spending, and reinforces that the case for OCR hikes is some way off.”