NZIER Consensus Forecasts show weaker near-term outlook

The latest NZIER Consensus Forecasts show a downward revision to the near-term outlook for the New Zealand economy. This largely reflects the expected impact of restrictions to contain the latest COVID-19 community outbreak, which turned out to persist for longer than initially expected. As a result, forecasts for private domestic demand for the coming year were revised lower. However,  beyond March 2022, forecasts were shifted higher,  suggesting that the  New Zealand economy is still expected to remain resilient.