FILE - Dairy cows graze on a farm near Oxford, in the South Island of New Zealand on Oct. 8, 2018. New Zealand's economy is expected to remain sluggish for another two years, although the overall picture is rosier than many observers had feared, in new figures released by the nation's Treasury Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023.
Unemployment is expected to jump from a current rate of 3.6% to 5.4% in 2025 before falling again, while economic growth is expected to fall from 3.1% this year to 1.3% next year, before bouncing back to 3.3% by 2026. Net debt as a percentage of the economy is expected to peak at 23% in 2025. The Treasury predicted inflation would fall from 6% this year to 2.5% by 2025, and noted that a post-pandemic immigration influx had helped stabilize falling house prices earlier than expected.