NZ Economy Shrinks Further, but Narrowly Avoids a Recession

New Zealand’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell 0.2 percent in the June 2024 quarter, allowing the country to narrowly avoid a technical recession following a downward revision to the March quarter. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) had predicted a contraction of 0.5 percent, while Westpac had it at 0.4 percent and ANZ proved overly optimistic with its forecast of a 0.1 percent fall. The March quarter figure, originally set at 0.2 percent growth, was revised downward to 0.1 percent. However, that was enough to preclude the result from being called a recession, traditionally defined as two-quarters of contraction in a row. New Zealand’s economic activity was the weakest of all its major trading partners....