SYDNEY New Zealand's business confidence improved in June, hitting the highest read since November 2021, while expected own activity moved to positive territory for the first time in 14 months, an ANZ Bank survey showed on Thursday.

The survey's headline measure showed a net 18% of respondents expected the economy to deteriorate over the year ahead, but that was far better than the 31.1% pessimism level in the previous poll in May.

A net 2.7% of respondents expected their own businesses to grow in the next 12 months, versus 4.5% last month who saw contraction coming.

"June saw activity indicators lift in a reasonably broad-based fashion. While the levels of many are still subdued, firms appear to be cautiously optimistic that the worst may be over," ANZ Chief Economist Sharon Zollner said in a statement.

(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Himani Sarkar)