The Alert Level 3 lockdown in Auckland and the level 2 alert in the rest of the country will cost the country about $240 million a week, according to a “back of the envelope” calculation by ASB. The calculation did not account for any “catch-up activity after lockdown conditions get loosened”, he said. ASB said the lockdown was likely to have a proportionately larger impact than the one in mid-February, as it already includes parts of two weekends. BNZ said it was “a waste of time” trying to put numbers on the economic impact of the current restrictions because the range of scenarios was so wide. Westpac said the higher alert levels would impact many businesses, but forecast they “wouldn’t have much impact on the overall economic outlook”.

Source: Stuff February 28, 2021 23:50 UTC