Recovery on but depression continues

Letter: It has often been said that there are lies, damned lies, and statistics, so we should not be surprised when the Office for National Statistics comes up with Orwellian garbage.

The estimated improvement of 0.1 per cent is of course better than the previous, but is subject to so many corrections (either way) that it means very little.

If the recession is technically over, then the depression most certainly is not and will not be until we recover the six per cent which lost between April 2008 and September 2009.

As the rest of the world leads us out of recession many firms and countries will want to borrow money.

We will not be able to sustain a very low interest rate; it will cost even more to service our debt, and prices will increase.

Alan Armitage

Wellington