Business confidence among members of the Northern Region Chambers of Commerce is fairly steady compared with August.

This analysis of confidence is based on an electronic survey participated in last week by 1000 business respondents.

When asked about prospects for their own business for the next six months, 52 per cent of respondents believed the situation would improve compared to 50 per cent in August.

Asked to look ahead at the general business environment for the next six months, 34 per cent of respondents believed the situation would improve over the next six months.

This is down on 38 per cent of respondents in the August survey saying the situation would improve.

Tauranga Chamber CEO Max Mason says the findings reflect an economy that is stalled in the slow lane through a combination of circumstances.

'As well as coming off the back of the Rugby World Cup and in the middle of a general election campaign, the survey result reflects the confused global environment, especially in Europe.

'In the Western Bay of Plenty, Rena and Psa would also be contributors.

'Putting these events together there appears to be an overall lack of confidence and many businesses not making decisions to change their future prospects.”

Reinforcing the lack of forward momentum, the survey indicated that investment intentions in building improvement remained stagnant while there was a small drop in intentions to invest in machinery.

Expectations around average costs and profitability for the next three months also declined.

'Clearly, moving beyond last week's general election and into the pre-Christmas period, there needs to be some reinforcement to businesses of the benefits of maintaining a sense of purpose, staying true to their vision and looking at every opportunity to innovate and achieve their growth plans.”