Business confidence at 14 year high

Brian Fallow at NZ Herald reports:

Businesses are the most cheerful they have been since 1999, a good sign for growth and employment but a potential harbinger of higher inflation and interest rates.

ANZ’s monthly business outlook survey found 56 per cent of respondents expected the general business situation to improve in the next 12 months while only 2 per cent expected it to get worse.

The net 54 per cent optimistic, up from a net 48 per cent in August, is the highest that indicator has been for 13 years.

Firms are also extremely upbeat about their own prospects, a net 45 per cent expecting a lift in activity, up two points on August.

Hopefully this will lead to growth over 3% in the next year.