Finance Minister Michael Cullen said the sharp decline in business confidence shown in the National Bank outlook was in line with other surveys and – like them – was driven by external factors.

“The drop reflects the continuing fallout from the terrorist attack on the United States and is being experienced in other economies around the world,” he said.

“It was probably inevitable that the reaction would flow through to firms’ expectations of their own growth prospects.

“However, while the ‘own activity’ indicator has also dropped sharply, it remains in positive territory with a net 18 percent of respondents still expecting an improvement.

”This reflects the relative robustness of the New Zealand economy as we continue to feel the benefits of good export prices, a competitive dollar, low interest rates and a supportive policy framework,” Dr Cullen said.

Ends

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>