An index measuring consumer confidence in New Zealand fell further in July to the lowest level in almost three years, the latest survey released by ANZ Bank and Roy Morgan showed Thursday.
The ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence index fell to 113.9 in July from 119.9 in the previous month. Thus far this year, the sentiment has fallen 15 points and is now below its historical average of 119.1.
The index of current conditions fell to the lowest in 22 months, dropping to 119.0 from 122.6 in the previous month, while the future conditions index dipped to a three-year low of 110.4 from 118.1.
“Sentiment typically cools at this time of year, as the winter blues set in. And it has indeed been a cold winter so far. But there are clearly other forces at play too: our seasonally adjusted estimates also recorded falls (albeit slightly more modest) over the month,” said Philip Borkin, Senior Economist at ANZ Bank.
The bank said consumers are less confident about the economy over the year ahead, but remain relatively upbeat about their own household’s situation.
A net 34 percent of respondents said that now was a good time to purchase a major household item, while a net 2 percent expected bad economic conditions in New Zealand over the coming year.
A net 4 percent said they were better off financially, while a net 22 percent expect to be better off still in the next year.
General inflation expectations rose to the highest level since January to 3.7 percent from 3.4 percent, reflecting recent petrol price rises. However, house price expectations eased slightly to 5.2 percent from 5.3 percent.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com