New Zealand's business sentiment plunged in March over concerns of the potential impact of the coronavirus outbreak, a preliminary survey conducted by ANZ Bank showed on Tuesday.
The survey's headline measure showed a net 53.3% of respondents expected the economy to deteriorate over the year ahead. It compared with a 19.4% pessimism level in the previous poll in Feb.
Firms expected own activity was the lowest since March 2009 with a net 12.8% of respondents expecting their own businesses to shrink in the next 12 months. That compares with 12.0% respondents expecting business to grow in last month's survey.
Preliminary results for the March ANZ Business Outlook survey cover the period March 2 to midnight 9 March. Final results are expected to be released on March 31.
(Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
