John Key, New Zealand's Prime Minister, said on Thursday that there is a dire need for New Zealand to deal with its poor productivity growth, as he thinks that this is the major problem being faced by the economy.

Wednesday saw an impressive speech being delivered by Key on New Zealand's economic performance, to a business audience in Wellington.

The speech by Mr. Key focused on six major policy drivers for the Government that are regulatory reform, infrastructure investment, better public services, education and skills, innovation and a world-class tax system.

According to Key, from the past five years, the chief trade sectors of the economy - which include agriculture, tourism, forestry and manufacturing - have been hit hard by the recession.

Key informed the audience, "Our productivity is already low by comparison with other developed countries and in recent years has been growing much slower than most other countries."