The New Zealand economy continues to perform strongly with the medium term outlook for GDP growth being 3% or more which augurs well for confidence in investment markets. Growth is broad-based with both high consumer and business confidence and some of the best terms of trade figures we have seen in more than 40 years. It now appears that New Zealand has become the first Western economy to move into a tightening phase for monetary policy. This has been well anticipated by financial markets as evidenced by the strength of the New Zealand dollar against all major currencies.