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Businesses More Confident

New Zealand business morale perked up in July as manufacturers and builders felt less gloomy about the year ahead, but the slowing economy still left room for another cut in interest rates, the National Bank of New Zealand (NBNZ) has said.

The bank's monthly business survey, one of two key business confidence measures to gauge where the economy is headed, said a net 19 percent of firms expected business conditions to worsen in the next 12 months.

That compared with a net 34 percent pessimism in June, and the near-three year low of net 44 percent in May.

"While business leaders are not exactly chipper, their mood has improved and they are looking forward with hope," said NBNZ Chief Economist John McDermott.

National Bank said the negative influences of recent months - the Iraq war, SARS, low rainfall, and soaring power prices - had largely dissipated and there seemed to be positive sentiment spilling into New Zealand from offshore.

But though the economy is slowing a...

Posted by: Sandeep Jador

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