Business confidence solidifies
Business confidence is continuing to improve in Wellington, with BusinessNZ also reporting a slight nationwide uptick in economic conditions.
The Wellington Chamber of Commerce took the pulse of the business community over a twoweek period in June.
It found a net 55 per cent of businesses expected the local economy to improve over the year ahead, up from a net 52 per cent in March. That figure was in turn a big increase from 34 per cent in December, when firms were feeling the wobbles from November’s
"The Wellington region needs immigrants and the skills they bring." Chamber of Commerce chief executive John Milford
Kaikoura earthquake and local flooding.
Wellington businesses’ confidence in the national economy also picked up, with a net 52 per cent expecting improvement, up from 43 per cent in March. The ‘‘net’’ figures are calculated by subtracting the proportion of businesses expecting a downturn from the total expecting better conditions ahead.
Chamber of Commerce chief executive John Milford said the results were encouraging, given the on-set of winter and the impending election.
Elections generally meant uncertainty for businesses.
But the chamber was concerned that businesses were reporting the main impediment holding back their growth was finding skilled staff.
‘‘Despite the current political anti-immigration rhetoric, the Wellington region needs immigrants and the skills they bring to help keep the momentum in the local economy,’’ he said.
‘‘As long as we are short of workers with the right skills then we have no option but to look to immigrants – we certainly can’t afford for our businesses to have uncertainty around access to skills.’’
Wellington businesses were also concerned about transport woes holding back the local economy and housing shortages
‘‘Nearly two-thirds believe that the ‘Let’s Get Wellington Moving’ consultation process is going too slowly,’’ Milford said.
‘‘We can’t afford to stand still in congestion any longer.’’
BusinessNZ chief executive Kirk Hope said there were a number of risks to the economy – including housing inflation, household debt and infrastructure pressures – but most economic indicators were trending up.
It put its index of economic conditions at ‘‘10’’, up one notch from three months ago. The index has ranged from -8 to 20 over the past six years.
As is often the case, Wellington business owners were even more confident about their own prospects than those of the local economy.
A net 63 per cent said they expect to see an improvement in their businesses over the next 12 months – compared to 61 per cent in March.
But the number of firms expecting to hire additional staff over the next three months slipped slightly, down from a net 33 per cent in March to 28 per cent.
Economist Infometrics said there was an encouraging ‘‘seasonally-adjusted’’ 7 per cent increase in consents for new homes in May, nationwide.
Consents for new dwellings were up 11 per cent on May last year, to 2794 during the month.
The number of consents in the three months to May in Wellington was up 37 per cent on the same period last year, ‘‘thanks to ongoing strength in the existing housing market’’, Infometrics said.