Shooting off streamers into the sky, the confetti cannon of economic growth took a surprising pause in New Zealand. Unexpectedly dipping its toes into the territory of contraction in the third quarter, the country's eloquent ballet of balance sheets and ledgers faced the offbeat rhythm of decline.
Where golden kiwis were once growing aplenty, the land of the long white cloud found unripe gourds in its economic basket. A contraction had curled its rambunctious tendrils amongst the rows, a ripple in the pond of prosperity which many did not see coming.
