When asked to rate their level of optimism in the New Zealand economy, CEOs surveyed in The New Zealand Herald’s Mood of the Boardroom 2020 Election Survey collectively scored it a 1.36 out of 5.
The annual boardroom barometer of 165 CEOs and high-profile directors, taken in association with BusinessNZ, provides an in-depth assessment of CEO opinion and has business confidence at the lowest it’s ever been in the survey’s 19-year history.
Fran O’Sullivan, Mood of the Boardroom executive editor and NZ Herald’s Head of Business Content, says it’s heartening that a record number of CEOs took part in the 2020 survey against a background of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Optimism may be at the lowest levels seen in the survey’s history, but the CEOs’ responses demonstrated their own commitment to turning the economy around.”
The report was launched this morning at a breakfast hosted by NZME’s Managing Editor Shayne Currie at Auckland’s Cordis Hotel, where both Finance Minister Grant Robertson and National’s Finance Spokesperson Paul Goldsmith discussed policies.
With the General Election just weeks away, business leaders are looking for more from both Labour and National.
BusinessNZ CEO Kirk Hope says Labour’s economic policy response to Covid has underpinned the economy in a challenging time.
“However, the long-term plans are less well understood. They will need to do a hard sell. National’s plans are slightly more pro-business. But both parties need to talk about how quantitative easing enables them to maximise a reduction in borrowing costs to help grow the economy.”
Full coverage of the survey can be found in today’s New Zealand Herald and at nzherald.co.nz.