Cullen on business confidence figures

“The latest National Bank outlook showing a modest rebound in both headline confidence and the own activity indicator suggests that even if the economy does contract in the June quarter, the contraction will be shallow and short,” Finance Minister Michael Cullen said today.

He was referring to survey results showing a pick-up in investment and hiring intentions. But he said that, while these and the recent consumer confidence data were encouraging, the evidence still pointed to slow growth in the next two quarters.

“The proportion of respondents expecting general business conditions to deteriorate may be down on last month but it is still in solidly negative territory,” he said.

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