NZ economy unexpectedly contracts in March, recession looms

NZ economy unexpectedly contracts in March, recession looms
The GDP figures are bad news for New Zealand. (Image: Getty)
Rebecca Howard
New Zealand’s economy contracted 0.2% in the March quarter, raising the possibility of a recession.Statistics NZ's gross domestic product (GDP) quarter result was worse than economists had expected, with the median expecting the economy to grow 0.5%, according to Bloomberg. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand had forecast the economy would expand by 0.7%.The economy expanded 3.0% in the December quarter. For the economy to be in recession, there needs to be two consecutive quarters of negative growth.Primary industries drove the decr...