WELLINGTON, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's services sector last month grew at its fastest rate in almost eight years, according to the latest performance of services index (PSI) out Monday.
The BNZ-Business New Zealand PSI for September was 59.3, on a scale where above 50 indicates expansion and below 50 contraction.
The figure was 0.8 points higher than August and the highest result since November 2007, representing a very favorable period of growth, Business New Zealand chief executive Phil O'Reilly said in a statement.
With the activity/sales sub-index on 63.2, close to record levels, and new orders/business on 63.1, "the sector is in very good health at present, with little sign of any slow down," said O'Reilly.
BNZ senior economist Doug Steel said in the statement that the September PSI and the performance of manufacturing index (PMI) released last week together supported the view that economic growth would be stronger in the second half of this year than the first half.
The GDP-weighted performance of composite index, which combines the PMI and PSI, was at 58.7 in September, up 0.7 points from August.
