NZ flirts with recession amid sharp economic slowdown

Should the economy fail to expand in the current cyclone-hit quarter, as some economists forecast, the country would have entered a recession six months before the Reserve Bank of New Zealand predicts. — Bloomberg

WELLINGTON: New Zealand may be flirting with recession much sooner than the central bank expected.

The economy contracted 0.2% in the final three months of last year, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists ahead of data due tomorrow.