We see the light, and it’s not the train headlight rushing towards us
As we enter the new financial year for most NZ SME sized businesses mortgage rates are getting into the low 5 percent range for 12-month fixed terms, New car sales for March were up 11 percent on March 2024 and the ANZ Bank Truckometer index which reflects commercial truck movements is 5 percent up YTD vs 2024.
Another interesting indicator is the ANZ Business sentiment – this has been positive for a while but Businesses expectation of business activity for their own business had been less positive but is now showing an increase (Up 4 percent in March) – this is in many ways a more reliable indicator as it reflects businesses insights into their own performance, rather than general market expectations.
These are all great positive signs – are you starting to feel more positive about your own business as we move into the new financial year? What assumptions have you used in your budgeting?
Often there is a bit of a lag between improvement of the indicators and a sustained increase in spending – people and businesses like to have the money in their pocket before they spend it, especially after coming out of a bit of a sustained downturn.
Besides the economic indicators the government also seems to now be actually moving forward on some policies that will have positive results for businesses. We look in our Business Torque page at the recent simplifications in Health & Safety policies for SME businesses and the major rewrite of the RMA should improve the ability of NZ businesses to actually get on and get things done.
Hopefully you will start to feel the results of this growing positiveness over the coming months in your own business.