BUDGET 2013 Residential rebuild in Canterbury ‘key driver’ of economic growth

BUDGET 2013 Residential rebuild in Canterbury ‘key driver’ of economic growth
By Paul McBeth May 16 (BusinessDesk) - Some $18 billion of new residential housing in Canterbury, accounting for almost half the region’s rebuild, will be the key driver behind New Zealand’s 2.5 percent annual rate of growth over the next four years. The Treasury sees gross domestic product growth of 2.5 percent in the year ended March 31, slipping to 2.4 percent in 2014 before rising to 3 percent and 2.6 percent the following two years, according to its Budget forecast. That will taper off in 2017 to an annual pace of 2.2 percent. The av...