Bill English
National Finance Spokesperson
Wednesday 30 August 2000
Still not out of the woods
The National Bank's confidence survey has been overtaken by events and does not show how businesses feel after the
alarming drop in the dollar, National Finance spokesperson Bill English said today.
"The survey was taken before the dive in the currency that has shaken confidence anew.
"It was clear that even Dr Cullen's confidence was knocked by the currency's fall when he said New Zealand isn't about
to become a banana republic. It's obviously a fear he has been entertaining.
"The survey's snapshot of pre-dollar-dive sentiment shows that even then confidence had only 'recovered' to the level it
hit at the tail-end of the Asian crisis
"That's hardly an achievement. There's nothing to be proud of when businesses are still largely pessimistic about where
New Zealand is heading.
"After bottoming out with a net 52% of respondents expecting general business conditions to deteriorate in June, there
are still a net 14% expecting a deterioration in August.
"Government policies and attitudes are driving the pessimism. The Government should admit it is part of the problem and
do something about it," Mr English said.
Ends