NZ business confidence eases in Q3

WELLINGTON: New Zealand business confidence eased in the three months to September and the central bank can afford to keep interest rates on hold until the middle of next year, a private think tank said on Tuesday.

A net 25 percent of firms surveyed expected general business conditions to improve in the next six months against the previous quarter's net 27 percent optimism, the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research said in its quarterly survey of business opinion (QSBO).

A seasonally adjusted 20 percent of firms expect their own activity to improve, unchanged from the previous survey, the NZIER said.

The survey's measure of capacity utilisation rose to 89.6 percent from 88.7 percent.

The survey was held in the first half of September before the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's monetary policy statement and the two rating downgrades.

Copyright Reuters, 2011