Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Business confidence slumps

Updated at 11:25 pm on 28 June 2012

National Bank's closely watched monthly survey of business sentiment found confidence halved in June.

Only a net 13% of respondents in June expect business conditions to improve over the next year, compared to a net 27% in May.

The chief economist at National Bank, Cameron Bagrie, says confidence has been falling since March.

"The (Christchurch) rebuild is just around the corner - so I think there is a lot of hope there within the construction sector," he says.

But Mr Bagrie noted that sector was coming off a low base, and builders might say things would get better because they couldn't see how cashflows could get any worse.

And in the agriculture sector, farmers were expected to be a little more conservative in how they managed their cashflows over the next six months.

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