Trading partners’ confidence good news for NZ

Trading partners’ confidence good news for NZ

14 November 2014

Growing optimism in our main trading partners is good news for New Zealand, according to Paul Kane, Partner, Privately Held Business, at Grant Thornton New Zealand.

Commenting on the recently released Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR) survey, which showed big jumps in business optimism in China, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, Kane believes this will be reflected in higher demand for New Zealand products and services.

“China, our biggest trade partner, has seen business optimism rise from 31% at the end of the third quarter last year to 55% to the same period this year. Australia has gone from 23% to 53%, the United Kingdom 76% to 82% and the United States 52% to 69%.

“China and Australia are our two biggest trading partners, so optimism in their markets is good for New Zealand. The significance of the rise in Australia should not be overlooked as their economy impacts ours in so many ways, not only trade, but also immigration. Perhaps this rise in their confidence will see a strengthening in numbers of people moving across the Tasman to live.

“Even if this does occur, migration to New Zealand is so strong that it will have little impact on these numbers overall, with no respite for areas such as the Auckland housing market.

“New Zealand’s business confidence has also increased in that time from 64% to 80%, although it did peak at 88% in the first quarter this year,” he said.

Kane feels that this uplift in confidence will keep New Zealand’s levels high for some time.

“The survey ranks New Zealand as the third most optimistic country of the 34 surveyed, behind India (95%) and the United Kingdom (82%) and level with Ireland. It really does indicate exactly where our economy sits and although we may have dropped slightly from the 88% peak at the end of the first quarter, several others have also come off their highs.

“As a country, we’re actually travelling pretty well.”

The Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR) provides insight into the views and expectations of more than 10,000 businesses per year across 34 economies. This unique survey draws upon 22 years of trend data for most European participants and 11 years for many non-European economies. For more information, please visit: www.internationalbusinessreport.com

Data collection
Data collection is managed by Grant Thornton's core research partner – Experian. Questionnaires are translated into local languages with each participating country having the option to ask a small number of country specific questions in addition to the core questionnaire. Fieldwork is undertaken on a quarterly basis. The research is carried out primarily by telephone.

Sample
IBR is a survey of both listed and privately held businesses. The data for this release are drawn from interviews with more than 2,500 chief executive officers, managing directors, chairmen or other senior executives from all industry sectors.

“Grant Thornton” refers to the brand under which the Grant Thornton member firms provide assurance, tax and advisory services to their clients and/or refers to one or more member firms, as the context requires. Grant Thornton International Ltd (GTIL) and the member firms are not a worldwide partnership. GTIL and each member firm is a separate legal entity. Services are delivered by the member firms. GTIL does not provide services to clients. GTIL and its member firms are not agents of, and do not obligate, one another and are not liable for one another’s acts or omissions.

ENDS

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