Rural economies are expected to outperform their urban counterparts in the year ahead, due to the strong demand for agricultural exports.
That's the finding of Westpac Bank's annual regional round-up, which forecasts growth will slow in the year ahead but the severity of the slowdown would be felt differently across the country.
Industry economist Paul Clark says the gap between regions with a strong agricultural backbone and those that don't is expected to widen.
One region looking fairly strong on the back of agriculture and tourism is the Hawke's Bay.
Hawkes Bay Chamber of Commerce chief executive Karla Lee spoke to Corin Dann.
