ANZ Bank released its latest business sentiment survey for New Zealand on Thursday. The ANZ business confidence index for New Zealand slid to 3.2% in February from 7.1% in January. The index means that 3.2% of respondents expected the country's economy to improve over the coming year.

"Business confidence continues to wane. However, firms are more optimistic about prospects for their own business and this is a far more important signal for economic direction," the ANZ Chief Economist Cameron Bagrie said.