Regions continue to develop

National Bank's June Quarter Regional Trends report is encouraging given the adverse international conditions faced by the country in the three month period, Regional Development Minister and Progressive leader, Jim Anderton, said today.

"I am encouraged that economic activity rose in eleven of the fourteen regions in the three months to the end of June despite the fact that business confidence weakened across the country and the New Zealand dollar strengthened against the U.S. dollar and euro during the three-month period," Jim Anderton said.

"The latest healthy reading on the economy is another vote of confidence in New Zealand's future after international ratings agency, Fitch Ratings, recently up-graded New Zealand’s foreign-currency rating from AA to AA+. One of the factors that led to the upgrade was the economy’s increasing resilience to external shocks," the Progressive leader said.

"Adverse international events in the first half of this year serve to highlight the importance of the coalition government's work to bolster the capabilities of regional economies to enable the country to better withstand inevitable shocks that impact on our economy from time to time," the Progressive leader said.

"I believe that the coalition government's policies of working alongside individual companies, industry sectors and regional authorities are paying dividends in the form of better regional economic performance than would otherwise have been the case had New Zealand continued with the 'hands-off' policies of the past," Jim Anderton said.

As reported, National Bank's regular regional trends survey today found year-on-year growth in all the regions of the country. There was quarter-on-quarter growth in 11 of the 14 regions surveyed in the three months to the end of June, led by Wellington, Bay of Plenty and Nelson-Marlborough.

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