New Zealand businesses entered higher alert levels this month in a much more vulnerable position than in March, economists at Infometrics say. Otago felt the biggest blow, with economic activity down 15.6 per cent. The Manawatū-Whanganui and Gisborne regions weathered the storm as well as could be expected, with economic activity falling by less than 9 per cent. “The structure of local economies is key to deciphering how the economic hit will reverberate throughout the New Zealand economy,” Olsen said. “Those local economies with a strong primary sector, particularly in food production, have held up better as New Zealand’s exports continue to feed the world.

Source: Stuff August 19, 2020 16:52 UTC