Business confidence has turned softer in an early reading of sentiment as costs rise and tougher supply and employment outlooks weighed on firms' optimism.
Photo: Unsplash / EJ Yao
The ANZ's preliminary result for March showed headline confidence down 7 percentage points to be zero, while the more closely followed own activity measure fell to four points to 17.4 percent.
The overall survey was mixed with stronger employment intentions, steady investment plans, but rising cost and inflation pressures.
Nearly three quarters of responses expected higher costs, and close to half were expecting to raise their prices.
"The economy is entering a phase in which gains will be harder won," ANZ chief economist Sharon Zollner said.
"The tourism sector pain is becoming more palpable, and booming sectors such as construction are running up against constraints in terms of the availability of labour and, increasingly, imported materials."
She said if the construction sector was to cool then the economic outlook would change considerably.
Meanwhile, the bank's truckometer survey, which uses freight movements to give a real time economic snapshot showed volumes had picked up over the past month to return to pre-Covid levels.
Heavy traffic movements, which indicate activity in the economy, rose 2 percent in February, while light traffic volumes, which points six months ahead, increased 1 percent.