“The economic reality is now hitting home to New Zealand businesses, with more pessimistic than optimistic about their own prospects,” National’s Finance Spokesman Paul Goldsmith says in reaction to ANZ’s Business Outlook report for August.

“The brief increase in confidence experienced after lockdown ended as soon as the Government subsidies dried up and pent up demand was extinguished. Business confidence has fallen significantly.

“At -42.4%, confidence has slipped 10 points. That’s as bad as it was during the Great Financial Crisis.

“What’s more, own activity, the indicator that shows what’s really occurring in any business has slipped significantly as well to -17%, a drop of 8 points.

“This shows that most businesses are pessimistic about both their own prospects and the prospects of the wider New Zealand economy.

“Jacinda Ardern’s announcement last week that “we have weathered this storm” shows that while business is grasping the magnitude of the situation, the Labour leader continues to downplay the challenge we face.

“What’s clear is that this Labour Government doesn’t have the experience and skill to get us through the upcoming economic storm – only a National Government has the plan to enable and encourage the investment we need to generate jobs, keep taxes low, while getting on with ambitious infrastructure that will drive growth,” Mr Goldsmith says.

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