New Zealand ANZ business survey for May
business confidence 1.8
- preliminary was 7
- prior -2.0
activity outlook 27.1
- preliminary was 32.3
- prior +22.2
Key points via ANZ:
- Compared to the preliminary May read, headline business confidence was 5 points lower at +2%, while firms' own activity was also 5 points lower at +27%. Both are still higher than April
- All activity indicators were generally lower in the late-month sample than in the preliminary read. The bulk of the later responses were received the morning of Budget day.
- The construction sector continues to retreat from its highs in terms of the activity outlook, but report being busier, with costs rising sharply.
- Cost-push inflation pressures continue to intensify across the economy
The key takeaway from those two headline numbers are not as strong as expected but still an improvement on the month.
Some key details:
- Investment intentions rose 2 points to 18.9% (prelim: 20.8%)
- Employment intentions lifted 4 points to 20.5% (prelim: 22.1%)
- Capacity utilisation rose 3 points to 20.1% (prelim: 16.5%)
- Inflation pressures continue to lift. Cost expectations rose 5 points to a net 81.3% of respondents reporting higher costs (prelim: 80.3%). A net 57.4% of respondents intend to raise their prices (prelim: 57.6%). General inflation expectations rose to 2.22% (prelim: 2.17%).
