Capital Goods Price Index Falls 0.2 Percent

Capital Goods Price Index Falls 0.2 Percent

Capital goods prices fell 0.2 percent in the March 2003 quarter compared with the December 2002 quarter, according to Statistics New Zealand. On an annual basis, the Capital Goods Price Index rose 0.3 percent from the March 2002 quarter to the March 2003 quarter.

The most significant contribution to the overall decrease in the March 2003 quarter came from the plant, machinery and equipment index, which fell by 1.8 percent. The plant, machinery and equipment index has decreased in each quarter since the December 2001 quarter and is now 3.4 percent lower than the December 2001 quarter. The computer machinery index was the main factor in this decrease, recording a fall of 19.1 percent since the December 2001 quarter.

The residential and non-residential buildings indexes continued to rise this quarter. The residential buildings index rose by 1.3 percent and the non-residential buildings index rose by 0.6 percent in the March 2003 quarter. This follows increases of 1.7 percent and 0.3 percent respectively in the December 2002 quarter. The residential buildings index increased by 4.2 percent in the 12 months between the March 2002 and March 2003 quarters.

Brian Pink

Government Statistician

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