According to the Statistics New Zealand, the capital goods price index (CGPI) has dropped by 0.1% in the March 2010 quarter. The CGPI is calculated as the change in price of new capital equipment.

The State had qualified its first annual decline in CGPI since the December 1998 quarter, in the year 2009 to March 2010 quarter as 0.4% fall.

In March 2010 quarter, plant, machinery and equipment index added considerably to the descending of the CGPI, which had cut down as low as 0.6%. Other items considered in this index are computer machinery, furniture, and machinery for mining, quarrying, and construction. Moreover, discounting for furniture and electronic equipment added to the quarter's shrink.

Besides the above cited cause for the breakdown, the second chief input has been made by the non-residential buildings index, which chopped down by 0.1% in the March 2010 quarter. This descend is owed to the falling material prices for items such as stainless steel, along with lower local demand.

A hike 0.5% has been marked in the transport equipment index for March 2010 quarter. This rise dazzles the higher prices of light commercial vehicles and helicopters. The increase for the helicopters had been driven by a weaker New Zealand dollar.

What the New Zealand producers of goods and services purchase, the change in price of those physical capital goods purchased, is seen as the CGPI measure. These capital goods define the assets used to produce goods and services for more than one year.