External Factors Behind Fall In Confidence
- Cullen
Finance Minister Michael Cullen said the
drop in business confidence reflected in the latest National
Bank survey was disappointing but not surprising given
recent developments on the world stage.
“The threat of a
US invasion of Iraq; turbulence on the US sharemarket;
smaller but still sizeable falls on the sharemarkets of
Europe and Japan; the crisis in Argentina and weakness in
the economies of Uruguay and Brazil are all issues for
concern,” Dr Cullen said.
“New Zealand cannot inoculate
itself from international risks. However it is important
that we don’t overstate the danger.
“We managed to survive
the global downturn last year in good shape, and the
continued strong performance of the Australian economy
should provide a buffer against adverse events further
afield.”
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