WELLINGTON, July 4 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's business sector shows lower profitability as the production of goods and services slowed while the cost of labor continued to rise over last year, according to the statistics department Stats NZ on Thursday.
"Decreases in operating surplus reflect lower profitability for the business sector," said Paul Pascoe, a senior manager at Stats NZ national accounts.
The sector's gross operating surplus decreased to 16 billion NZ dollars (9.78 billion U.S. dollars) in the March 2024 quarter, which was the fifth consecutive decrease since the final quarter of 2022 when gross operating surplus was 18.9 billion NZ dollars (11.55 billion U.S. dollars), Stats NZ said.
New Zealand's non-financial business sector showed a negative saving of 2.5 billion NZ dollars (1.53 billion U.S. dollars) in the March 2024 quarter, continuing the trend in four of the last five quarters, Pascoe said.
This contrasts with positive saving in most quarters of the preceding six years, he said, adding negative saving represents greater outgoings than income and is funded by prior saving or new borrowing.
Businesses have taken on more debt and reduced their inventories to fund the difference between income and outgoings, Pascoe said, adding last year saw three of the four highest quarters in the series for new borrowing. ■
