Economy confidence slips

Businesses’ confidence in the economic outlook slipped in October amid uncertainty over the Covid outbreak, ANZ has reported. But chief economist Sharon Zollner said businesses’ assessment of their own prospects had improved since September and medium-term indicators of economic confidence remained ‘‘broadly robust’’. A net 13 per cent of business owners were gloomy about the economic outlook, compared to a net 7 per cent in September. But firms’ assessment of their own fortunes edged up 4 points, with a net 22 per cent upbeat on that measure. Inflation expectations jumped among the later respondents to the survey, after Stats NZ reported a surge in inflation to 4.9 per cent in the September quarter.