Pending election adds to retailers' worries

Press release

Newmarket Business Association

13 June 2008

Pending election adds to retailers' worries

The head of Auckland's leading shopping district says while the latest retail figures for the month of April released by Statistics New Zealand today weren't as alarming as the figures for the March quarter, it nonetheless will be a very tough winter with the pending general election adding to retailers woes.

"The remainder of 2008 is going to be very interesting, particularly with a change of government feeling increasingly imminent," says Cameron Brewer, general manager of the Newmarket Business Association.

"Pending watershed elections do strange things to consumer behaviour. Fundamentally, government department activity slows right down, businesses defer their decision making, and consumers keep their hands in their pockets.

"John Key's talking about an 18 October election but in reality it could be any time. That kind of uncertainty doesn't help at a time when economic growth is halving to around 1.5%. The sooner we can get the election behind us, the better," said Cameron Brewer.

ENDS

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