The Credit rating company, S&P Global predicts that the adverse economic effects of Codid19 on the New Zealand economy would be far less than for most other countries. It is believed that the long-term cost to New Zealand’s real GDP would be an estimated 2.7 per cent – less than the cost of the Global Financial crisis.
New Zealand has been widely praised for its handling of the pandemic. The government announced a full lockdown early into the pandemic and managed almost to eradicate the virus. During the early recovery stages, the government announced targeted economic stimulus packages to protect jobs and encourage spending.
Unemployment is expected to peak at 5.8 per cent this year, and drop back to 4.9 per cent by 2023. This figure is far lower than original expectations of 11% should the government not have managed to bring the virus under control.
