Western Bay of Plenty regional deal<\/a>.<\/p>\nDespite the strong headline result, economists and business leaders say risks are building.<\/p>\n
ASB warned \u201cstorm clouds are looming\u201d, with inflation pressures and global uncertainty \u2013 including the ongoing impacts of conflict in the Middle East \u2013 expected to weigh on growth and confidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no doubt the second half of 2026 will be a continuation of the economic challenges that have gained momentum since the Middle East conflict began in February,\u201d Courtney said.<\/p>\n
\u201cRising costs, disrupted supply chains, falling consumer and business confidence \u2013 we know businesses are aware of, and planning for, these factors.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a media release, ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley said a bumper kiwifruit season and solid employment gains had helped the Bay of Plenty reclaim the top spot.<\/p>\n
\u201cStrong export demand and solid employment growth are underpinning the region\u2019s momentum,\u201d Tuffley said.<\/p>\n
However, business sentiment on the ground is more mixed.<\/p>\n
Tauranga Business Chamber chief executive Matt Cowley said that although the horticulture sector remained a bright spot, rising costs were weighing on confidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe strong horticulture export season, particularly kiwifruit, is a great news story for all of New Zealand.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall, it\u2019s a mixed bag in recent months as rising fuel prices have put pressure on business and consumer confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Tauranga]()
Tauranga Business Chamber chief executive Matt Cowley. Photo \/ Mead Norton<\/p>\n
Cowley said publicly funded construction projects and a return in population growth were helping to support business pipelines, particularly in the building sector.<\/p>\n
But he warned many businesses were still under pressure.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if revenue is steady for some businesses, the rapid rise in costs has put pressure on cash flow and profits,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Labour market conditions were also evolving, with Cowley saying some roles had become easier to fill but challenges remained around reliability and workforce readiness.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe key challenge is finding work-ready staff who can consistently turn up.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"]()
Rotorua Business Chamber chief executive Melanie Short addresses the Westpac Smarts Business Luncheon on Friday as new Business Pulse survey results are released.<\/p>\n
Rotorua Business Chamber chief executive Melanie Short said the ASB data may not yet reflect the full impact of global tensions.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy view is that the ASB data timeframe is prior to the Middle East conflict so the picture is skewed.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur data is also mid-conflict, so the next round will be the true picture. We were certainly feeling positive at the end of 2025 and start of 2026 and hope to return to that level of confidence in the coming months.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rotorua NZ was also approached for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cGrowth is not at the levels we\u2019ve seen historically, but the region continues to outperform many parts of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":481091,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[95,25286,1561,138,10668,219,16118,3499,3112,111,139,69,1118,90,1562,2729,2726],"class_list":["post-481090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-and","tag-asb","tag-bay","tag-business","tag-economic","tag-economy","tag-export","tag-growth","tag-job","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-on","tag-plenty","tag-rankings","tag-tops"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}