KEY POINTS:
New Zealand consumer confidence is at a 10-year low amid a deepening recession and rising unemployment, according to a survey conducted by UMR Research.
Seventy-two per cent of 750 people surveyed in late January expect the economy will get worse this year, up from 56 per cent in December, UMR said.
Forty per cent of those surveyed said the global financial crisis will get a lot worse or lead to a depression, adding to New Zealand's problems.
The Reserve Bank has cut interest rates to a record low and the Government plans income tax cuts to kickstart an economy that has been in a recession since the first quarter last year.
Companies are firing workers and slowing investment, adding to signs consumer spending will slow this year.
A record 81 per cent expect the jobless rate will rise and 39 per cent plan to spend less over the next year, the UMR survey showed.
Thirty-six per cent of those surveyed expect the economy will start to recover this year, down from 52 per cent in the December poll. The survey has a margin of error of 3.6 percentage points.
- BLOOMBERG
