The Economic Growth of New Zealand

The GDP of New Zealand grew at a rate of 1.1% in the first quarter of 2012. This is out of proportion with the rest of the developed countries who were generally flat or beginning to return to recession like levels.  The favorable weather helped with farm production output which was led by 2.3% increases in output. Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd. announced their output was 10% higher than the year before. Manufacturing increased by 1.8%, household spending and engineering also showed significant gains.

Numbers of this nature would indicate that a global recession has ended but as soon as these numbers were released the opposite followed. The consumer confidence index dropped to its lowest level in a year. The New Zealand dollar rallies in response to the economic data but its strength will be monitored by global investors the next few days to see if the international community agrees with new negative outlook of the consumer confidence index.