Analysts at ANZ note that the New Zealand economy expanded 0.7% QoQ in Q3, a touch stronger than both ANZ’s and market expectations of 0.5%, but Q2 growth was revised down markedly from 0.5% QoQ to just 0.1%.
Key Quotes
“The upward surprise came from solid primary industries growth, which tends to be volatile. Services industries growth was weak, up only 0.4% q/q.”
“Annual growth ticked up to 2.3% from 2.1% as expected, given downward revisions to growth in the first two quarters of 2019. Revisions saw growth hold up a bit better over 2018, but the slowdown in growth momentum in 2019 has been sharper.”
“With leading indicators looking a bit brighter, we think growth will continue to bob around 2% into early 2020.”