New Zealand: GDP rebounded from a slowdown in the first half of 2019 – Westpac

New Zealand is scheduled to release Q4 current account balance and Q4 GDP on 18th and 19th March respectively. They will provide a useful snapshot of the strength of the economy heading into coronavirus shock, according to economists at Westpac Institutional Bank. NZD/AUD trades at 0.9732.

Key quotes

“We expect a 0.6% rise in GDP for the December quarter. That would see growth slow to 2.3% for the 2019 year, compared to 3.2% growth over 2018.”

“We’re now expecting to see a substantial hit to activity in the near term, followed by a period of very strong growth as the outbreak passes and the economy returns to its previous trend.” 

“We expect the current account deficit to narrow to 3.0% of GDP.  The expected narrowing of the deficit is due to an improvement in both the trade and investment income balances.”