Recession worries? Blame China's economic flu

Dominick Stephens (centre) and Struan Little (right) spoke at an Auckland Chamber event moderated by Simon Bridges. (Image: BusinessDesk)

Dileepa Fonseka

Thu, 25 Jul 2024

A senior Treasury official says New Zealand's economy is worse than originally forecasted, and much of that is due to China. That's what Treasury’s chief economic adviser, Dominick Stephens, told a business audience in Auckland on Wednesday morning – reminiscent of the adage that when the United States sneezes, the world gets a cold, but tweaked to include China’s sniffles.“Treasury has for quite some time anticipated a recession, a downturn … we had been foreshadowing it for some time, but with the B...

Subscribe to BusinessDesk

Stay informed on business, government and financial developments across New Zealand.

Deeply researched, twice-edited and fact-checked news
Annual subscribers also receive a complimentary subscription to The Wall Street Journal
Personalised email news alerts, plus gift up to 5 stories a month to non-subscribers

You can cancel anytime with two clicks, an email or a phone call.
Find out more.

We are serious about journalism.

Already a Subscriber ? Sign in here.

Name {{ registerForm.errors.get('name') }}

Email address {{ registerForm.errors.get('email') }}

Phone Number {{ registerForm.errors.get('phone') }}

Job Title {{ registerForm.errors.get('title') }}

Password Minimum password length of 8 characters.
Require at least one upper and lowercase, numeric, and special character. {{ registerForm.errors.get('password') }}

Repeat password {{ registerForm.errors.get('password_confirmation') }}

We had trouble validating your card. It's possible your card provider is preventing us from charging the card. Please contact your card provider or customer support.

Credit Card

Cardholder's name

{{ __(plans[index].name) | capitalize }} {{ plans[index].attributes.old_price | currency }} {{ plans[index].price | currency }}

All subscriptions auto renew but are easy to cancel.

I Accept The Terms Of Service

{{ registerForm.errors.get('terms') }}

Tax: {{ taxAmount(selectedPlan) | currency }}

Total Price Including Tax: {{ priceWithTax(selectedPlan) | currency }} {{ selectedPlan.type == 'user' && spark.chargesUsersPerSeat ? '/ '+ spark.seatName : '' }} {{ selectedPlan.type == 'user' && spark.chargesUsersPerTeam ? '/ '+ __('teams.team') : '' }} / {{ __(selectedPlan.interval) | capitalize }}

Primary Sector

Why NZ's US tariff rates could rise on a whim

NZ's trade surplus with the US is likely to go up. Donald Trump won't like that.

Greg Hurrell 5:00am

Technology

The AI 'canary' in the consulting coal mine

Audit and advisory firms are largely keeping quiet about their AI safeguards.

Dileepa Fonseka 5:00am

The AI 'canary' in the consulting coal mine

Policy

LNG imports: Watts open-minded on scale

Energy sector analysts fear a "small, cheap" option will push up the LNG price NZ pays.

Pattrick Smellie 5:00am

Sponsored

Why New Zealand organisations need to rethink their cloud strategy

New Zealand organisations have embraced cloud computing over the past decade, but many are now confronting a sobering reality: adoption alone isn’t enough. According to Datacom’s 2025 Cloud & Infrastructure Report, only half of New Zealand businesses say they’ve realised the benefits they expected from cloud – despite significant investment.

Datacom

Sponsored

In a complex world, Kiwi investors can take comfort in mega forces

Enduring international forces bring clarity to uncertain times.

Blackrock

More Economy

Finance

Cost-benefit issues in spotlight amid RBNZ review

Commentators raise cost-benefit concerns over the RBNZ's capital settings review.

Andy Macdonald 5:00am

Economy

ANZ first bank to react to OCR cut

ANZ is the first bank to react after the Reserve Bank’s 50-basis-point official cash rate cut on Wednesday.“Lower interest rates are helping, and more and more customers are seeing the benefit of rate cuts,” Grant Knuckey, a managing director at ANZ, said.“We’ve ... [seen] people...

Staff reporters 08 Oct 2025