国际英语新闻:New Zealand Finance Minister says economy "well positioned"

WELLINGTON, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand Finance Minister Grant Robertson said on Wednesday that the county's strong growth potential and resilience has been backed by another international report, saying "we are well positioned".

International credit ratings agency Moody's just released its latest opinion on New Zealand on Tuesday, rating New Zealand as one of the few countries with its strongest "AAA" credit rating.

"It follows the IMF's report last week which said we had solid rates of growth, particularly in the context of the global economic volatility we are seeing," the finance minister said.

In its report, Moody's said New Zealand's economic strength is "very high" and growth remains "robust". It expects New Zealand's economy to grow around its potential rate of 2.5-3 percent in the next few years, in line with the median for Aaa-rated countries.

Moody's report assessed New Zealand's fiscal strength at "very high". New Zealand has a very favourable business environment.

That's despite the county's statistics department Stats NZ last Thursday said New Zealand's gross domestic product (GDP) lifted by 0.5 percent over the June quarter, for a 2.1 percent gain over the same quarter of last year, the lowest since 2013, in line with a general slowdown in economic activity.