Biggest fall in 20 years for capital goods index

The capital goods price index (CPGI) recorded its largest fall in two decades in the December quarter, falling 0.7 percent from the previous three months.
A 2 percent fall in the price of plant, machinery and equipment was a key contributor to the largest quarterly fall since 1990 in the index, which measures the change in the price of physical capital goods bought by producers of goods and services.
Residential building prices fell 0.2 percent in the quarter, non-residential building also fell 0.2 percent, transport equipment fell 0.4 percent and other construction fell 0.4 percent, Statistics New Zealand said today.
The fall in plant, machinery and equipment was the largest quarterly decline since the series started in 1989, and was largely influenced by lower prices for computer equipment.
In the year to the December quarter the CGPI fell 0.3 percent.