New Zealand business confidence improved in February but remained at a subdued level, survey results from ANZ showed on Tuesday.
The business confidence index climbed to -43.3 in February from -52.0 in January. Despite the improvement, the score remained at subdued level.
The own activity outlook indicator strengthened to -9.2 from -15.8 a month ago.
Although the survey showed a further lift in all activity indicators led by construction and services, many remained at very subdued levels compared to historical averages.
Pricing intentions continued to inch lower but inflation expectations remained stuck at around 6 percent. The index measuring pricing intentions fell to 58.8 from 62.4.
However, the survey showed a marked decline in expected wage growth. Firms are anticipating raising wages by considerably less in the next 12 months than they did in the last.
The cost expectations index eased to 88.3 from 91.3 a month ago. At the same time, the profit expectations indicator rose to -37.7 from -42.6.
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