16 Mar 2015

PSI growth continues, but at a slower rate

3:15 pm on 16 March 2015

The Cricket World Cup is partly behind the continuing growth of the services sector, which is still rising although at a slower rate than earlier in the year, an economist says.

The BNZ-Business New Zealand Performance of Services Index declined two points to 55.6 in February.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion.

Activity and sales rose to 62.1 and hit its second highest level since the Index began in 2007, while supplier deliveries fell by 3.6 points to just 51.4.

Senior economist at BNZ Doug Steel said activity in the services sector had been fairly consistent.

He said the tourism numbers were expected to show strong growth when the were released later this week.

"We would expect them to show very strong growth, not only because of the Cricket World Cup, but the timing of the Chinese New Year."

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