New Zealand emerges from recession – 06/20/2024 10:02

New Zealand has emerged from recession, according to official data released Thursday by the government's statistics office, a positive sign despite the “continuing shadow” of inflation, Wellington said.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Nixon (illustration) (POOL/DAVID MAREUIL)

The Oceania nation's GDP rose in the first quarter (+0.2%), according to Stats NZ, better than experts had expected. Four of the previous five quarters had seen the economy contract.

According to the Finance Minister, this new indicator is a positive sign, but “New Zealanders are still aware of the long shadow of high inflation, with interest rates rising.”

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According to Finance Minister Nicola Willis.

Agriculture and tourism, two key sectors in the country of about five million people, have been tested in recent years.

Natural disasters have devastated vast agricultural areas, while global supply chain problems have damaged the economy of the geographically isolated country.

Tourist numbers are struggling to return to pre-Covid-19 levels, and the country will not fully reopen its borders until summer 2022.

At the end of May, the centre-right government unveiled a budget that included tax cuts. To finance it, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced cuts to government spending. Thousands of public sector workers had already been laid off.