KEY POINTS:
Nearly four out of every 10 New Zealanders think the economy will improve in the next year, according to the latest Herald-DigiPoll survey.
Asked whether the economy would do better or worse over the next 12 months, 39.8 per cent said it would improve and 23 per cent felt it would perform "about the same".
Of those surveyed, 26 per cent said it would do worse and 11.2 per cent did not know.
This is a change from the last survey, in August, when 29.9 per cent felt the economy would improve over the next year and 33.3 per cent told the pollsters it would do worse.
Despite the confident outlook, a narrow majority disagreed with the Government's policies.
The sample split 47.7 per cent "no" and 43.9 per cent "yes" when asked if the Government was headed in the right direction.
This is a slight change from August when the split was 44.3 per cent "no" and 46.3 per cent "yes".
About one third of respondents felt the economy was doing better than a year ago, against 28.9 per cent who said it was worse, and 27.9 per cent who said it was "about the same".
