Recession nearing end in New Zealand: PM

• Source: Xinhua
• [14:14 July 23 2009]
• Comments

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key has said the country is likely coming out of recession in the last quarter this year, but jobs will continue to be lost into next year.

"It will be some time until GDP recovers to previous levels and for most people the measure of a recession is whether or not they have a job," Key told the Parliament on Wednesday.

"Unemployment will continue to rise over the next year, before peaking and beginning to fall again," he said. "That is the consequence of a very long recession."

Economic activity has been declining since the beginning of 2008. Official figures show the economy was 2.7 percent smaller in the first quarter this year than the same period a year ago.

Key also ruled out the privatization of any government assets before the next election, after reports that the energy firm Meridian was being readied for sale.