Confidence expected to recover

Business confidence among small firms is expected to bounce back after Government moves on employment law.

Confidence plunged to its lowest level in nine years for the quarter ending December, according to ANZ’s latest small business survey.

BusinessNZ chief executive Kirk Hope attributes those figures to uncertainty among business owners during the election.

‘‘What that survey will be responding to is some of the political statements leading into the election [because], the reality is, much of that political rhetoric was not pro-business, it was designed to gain votes,’’ he said.

The Government has announced it would ban 90-day trial periods for employers with 20 or more workers, but this meant more than 95 per cent of all businesses would still be able to use the scheme.

Hope said confidence would rebound, as businesses realised political statements made during the election campaign were ‘‘perhaps more pragmatic than first thought’’.

However, confidence would be affected unless the Government showed it was considering the business viewpoint when developing policies.

ANZ retail and business banking general manager Andrew Webster said the drop in confidence came at a time when small businesses were ‘‘facing change on a range of fronts’’.

‘‘A new Government, a softer housing market, tightening credit, a fall in dairy prices, capacity constraints and a topping out in previous economic drivers such as strong migration have all contributed to a backdrop of uncertainty at the end of 2017.’’

More than 20 companies responded to the survey.