After cutting itself off from the world over the pandemic, Kiwis seem to be depressed about reopening to the world and the prospect that Omicron is about to be let loose.
The latest Roy Morgan consumer confidence survey for New Zealand, released on Friday, showed that confidence has plunged to its lowest level on record “as respondents nervously eyed up widespread COVID in the community for the first time”:
Confidence about the New Zealand economy is especially dour, as illustrated in the next charts:
Kiwis are also less confident about buying a major household item:
Finally, Kiwis are fare less confident than Australians – perhaps reflecting that Aussies are used to ‘living with the virus’:
The honeymoon is well and truly over for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who has already suffered a collapse in voter support. The question now is whether the souring mood in New Zealand will further damage Ardern’s reelection prospects.
